An AI-driven mortgage lender founded last year has applied to become a national bank.
Athena AI Holdings applied to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to create Metis NA, a branchless bank that would be based in Hanover, Pa. Athena would merge into the bank.
The business plan, financial projections, and capital details were confidential exhibits, but the filing does give some hints about what’s in store.
Athena holds lending licenses in 15 states and is an approved seller to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Metis would originate conforming mortgages via Athena’s digital direct-to-consumer channel and sell most of them to Fannie and Freddie within days of closing. It would make home equity loans and lines of credit and hold them on its balance sheet.
On the deposit side, Metis would offer checking, savings, CDs, and servicing custodial accounts. It would pair those with a rewards program that returns part of the bank’s cost savings to borrowers who bring their primary banking relationship to Metis.
There would be no small business or commercial lending during the de novo period, and no dividends planned. Athena is covering all organizing costs, from legal to staff hiring, and the bank won’t reimburse expenses incurred before it opens.
The application states that Athena does not use artificial intelligence, machine learning, or any proprietary model to make credit decisions. Each loan is underwritten by an agency automated underwriting system. The automation covers application intake, document processing, disclosure preparation, closing coordination, and post-closing delivery.
Pete Amstutz would serve as CEO and president. At Navy Federal Credit Union, he led mortgage innovation, capital markets, and secondary marketing. Laura Bowles, who once was CFO of Movement Mortgage, would have the same role at Metis.
The rest of the senior team includes Randy Gilster as head of customer experience and Addie Bendory, Athena’s founding engineer, as chief information security officer.
The board would have five directors, three of them independent. Pat McClanahan is the one independent director named so far; the other two are still to be identified. The organizers are requesting a waiver of the director residency requirement, since two of the five proposed directors will live within 100 miles of Hanover.