Coinbase Wins Final OCC Approval for Its National Trust Bank

Hey Digital Banking Fanatic!

Remember when Ripple's national trust bank got final OCC approval a couple of weeks ago? Now it's Coinbase's turn.

Coinbase has received final approval from the OCC for Coinbase National Trust Company, a noninsured national trust bank. The OCC signed off on 6 November, seven months after its conditional approval in April.

The trust bank will focus on custody, mainly for institutional clients. Coinbase plans to move its entire custody business there over the next three years, from the New York trust company that has held it since 2018.

It's not a full bank, though. It can't take retail deposits, and its approved plan doesn't include issuing stablecoins.

"Trusted custody is essential for bringing more of the financial system onchain," wrote CEO Brian Armstrong.

And this club is growing fast. Circle got its final approval in July, Ripple in October, and Coinbase now. Block and Kraken's parent Payward have applied too.

Of course, not everyone is happy. The Independent Community Bankers of America has sued the OCC over these approvals, so the legal fight isn't over yet.

Here's what else is happening in digital banking today👇

See you tomorrow!

Cheers,

Marcel

INSIGHTS

💡 Incognia: The Fraud Economy, Episode 3: When the Person Behind the Account Changes. In this episode, payments strategist Dwayne Gefferie speaks with André Ferraz, CEO and Co-Founder of Incognia, about account takeovers, phishing, coercion and account handovers into mule networks. One investigation revealed that more than 4% of accounts opened at a financial institution had changed hands within just three months, despite passing the original identity checks. The discussion explores why valid credentials and KYC verification don't guarantee that the original customer remains in control, why transaction data alone may not detect these changes, and how location intelligence can help identify whether a new device is still behaving like the legitimate customer. The key takeaway: authentication confirms credentials, but it doesn't necessarily confirm who is actually operating the account. Watch the full episode here

NEWS

🇺🇸 Coinbase receives final OCC approval for its national trust bank. Coinbase National Trust Company will mainly provide institutional custody and cannot take retail deposits or lend. Coinbase plans to move its custody business into the entity over three years.

🇬🇧 D.E. Shaw in talks to lead Monzo funding round at about £7B valuation. The round could raise at least £300M, Sky News reports, after takeover talks with Nubank collapsed. Monzo and D.E. Shaw declined to comment.

🇦🇪 Tabby Cash accounts top 1 million in two months. The BNPL firm, valued at $6.5B, aims to become customers' primary financial relationship, adding fee-free international transfers to over 50 countries. Tabby Cash operates under a CBUAE Stored Value Facilities licence.

🇮🇪 Revolut enters Irish mobile market with €9.99 monthly plan. Revolut Mobile, an eSIM service managed in the Revolut app and built with Gigs, offers the introductory price to the first 25,000 customers before rising to €12.99. Revolut has about 3.4 million Irish users.

🇪🇺 ECB approves transfer of part of Revolut Bank's Lithuanian operations to France. Some assets and liabilities will move to the French entity, covering customers in France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain, with completion expected in early December.

🇪🇬 CIB targets Q1 2027 launch for Yomo digital bank. Commercial International Bank plans to invest about $300M over three years and is aiming for 10 million customers within five years. Yomo received initial Central Bank of Egypt approval in August.

🇦🇹 Scalable Capital launches fixed deposits in Austria paying up to 3.25%. Terms run from six months at 2.75% to 24 months at 3.25%, from €1, as Scalable competes with Trade Republic and Revolut. Its instant-access rate is 2.60%.

🇰🇿 Kaspi. kz's Q3 revenue rises 18% to KZT1.1 trillion. Net income reached KZT281B, while constant-currency e-commerce revenue grew 23%. Kaspi is also launching Magnum Daily stores in the neighbourhood grocery market after a 42-store pilot.

🇰🇷 KakaoBank and Toss Bank prepare to introduce Apple Pay in South Korea. The move could end Hyundai Card's exclusive access to Apple Pay after more than three years. Shinhan Card, KB Kookmin Card and BC Card are also interested.

🇰🇪 WayaWaya and Choice Bank launch digital banking in Kenya. WayaWaya Banking offers accounts, multi-currency holdings, local and international transfers and bill payments under the Central Bank of Kenya framework. WayaWaya aims to build a pan-African neobank.

🇺🇸 Morgan Stanley agrees to buy transfer agent Vinyl Equity. The deal adds digital transfer agency capabilities to Morgan Stanley at Work and could support future tokenisation. It is expected to close in Q1 2027; terms were not disclosed.

🇮🇹 Crédit Agricole proposes merging its Italian unit with Banco BPM. The friendly proposal offers Banco BPM shareholders a 20% premium and a €1B extraordinary dividend, raising Crédit Agricole's stake to about 45%. It projects €800M in annual synergies.

🇨🇾 Bank of Cyprus launches the island's first AI banking assistant. DANAI, developed with technology partner Avenga, is available 24/7 in the mobile app in Greek and English.

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