US fintech company Mercury has received conditional approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to establish Mercury Bank, N.A.
The move places the company into the bank organisation phase. Mercury must still meet remaining conditions and secure final authorisation from the OCC.
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Approvals are also pending from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Federal Reserve.
Mercury first said in December 2025 that it intended to pursue a national bank charter.
Its application was submitted alongside a request for federal deposit insurance with the FDIC.
In a statement, the company said the conditional approval reflects years of work to build a financial platform “worthy of direct regulation”.
Mercury said a fully operational bank would enable services customers cannot access currently. These include Zelle embedded in Mercury Bank accounts for person-to-person and business payments.
The company also pointed to plans for an expanded suite of lending products for businesses and individuals, as well as deeper payments infrastructure aimed at faster money movement and more direct control over payment processing.
Mercury said it serves more than 300,000 businesses and individuals and generates more than $650m in annualised revenue. It also reported four years of GAAP profitability.
The firm said one in three US startups banks with Mercury, but added that in 2025, 73% of new customers came from outside the tech startup category.
Immad Akhund, co-founder and CEO of Mercury, said: “We applied for this charter because the best founders in the country deserve a bank that was built for them.
“Our customers have been asking for Zelle, for expanded lending, for payment infrastructure we actually control. We couldn’t give them those things without a bank charter. Those gaps have always bothered me. This is how we start closing them.”
Mercury Bank, N.A. will be headquartered in Utah.
Jon Auxier will take on the roles of chief executive and president at Mercury Bank.
His previous experience includes serving as CFO of SoFi Bank and corporate treasurer at SoFi Technologies. He has also held senior roles at Goldman Sachs, Green Dot, and a global accounting firm.
Mercury Technologies, Inc. will later file separately with the Federal Reserve to become a bank holding company.
Following the OCC’s conditional approval, Mercury said it will continue working with regulators to satisfy outstanding requirements.
