Mission Lane has applied to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to open a credit card bank.
The credit card fintech aims to open Mission Lane Bank, which would operate under limitations that apply to credit card banks under the Competitive Equality in Banking Act of 1987. The proposed bank would engage only in credit card operations, would not accept demand deposits or deposits withdrawable by check, would not accept savings or time deposits under $100,000 except where pledged as collateral. It would have just one deposit-taking office and would not make commercial loans.
Mission Lane, established in 2018 to expand access to fair, transparent and affordable credit cards, already partners with unaffiliated banks to issue Mission Lane-branded cards. The plan is to transition that program over the first three years of the new bank’s operations so that the proposed bank becomes the sole issuer of those credit cards.
The bank would focus on an estimated 70 million Americans who are underserved by traditional financial institutions and need affordable access to credit. The focus would be on customers with VantageScores between 550 and 700.
Brandon Black, a former Encore Capital chief and a former Capital One executive, would serve as CEO.