New York Community Bancorp in Westbury is planning to work with Figure Technologies on a series of blockchain projects.
The $57.5 billion-asset New York Community said in a press release Monday that it expects to use Figure’s Provenance Blockchain to support financial inclusion, lower costs and complexity in its mortgage business and support a faster and less expensive payments system.
New York Community said it will make a direct equity investment in Figure as part of the arrangement.
“We chose Figure because of its focus on and knowledge of banking and payment systems,” Thomas Cangemi, New York Community’s chairman, president and CEO, said in the release. “Our agreement with Figure is a part of [our] strategic focus on the operational and cost benefits that blockchain technology can bring to bear across many areas of banking.”
New York Community and Figure also announced that they will invest in the JAM FINTOP Blockchain fund, which will invest in and develop blockchain infrastructure and businesses.
New York Community agreed in April to buy Flagstar Bancorp, which has a large mortgage business.
National Bank Holdings in Denver announced last week that it will also invest in Figure as part of an initiative to develop a number of blockchain projects.
Figure applied to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in November for a specialized charter. The San Francisco fintech plans to only hold uninsured deposits.
The application prompted the Conference of State Bank Supervisors to file a lawsuit in the U.S. District for the District of Columbia, claiming Figure is basically trying to secure a fintech charter while asserting that the National Bank Act doesn’t allow the OCC to create one.