American online student lender SoFi has applied for a national bank charter with the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Business Insider has reported.

In addition to the OCC, the application for a SoFi Bank will also be reviewed by the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).

Upon obtaining its banking licence, SoFi intends to accept customer deposits and approve loans independently.

Currently, it provides these services through partner banks, the report added.

SoFi CEO Anthony Noto said: “We firmly believe that by pursuing a national bank charter, we will be able to help even more people get their money right with enhanced value and more products and services.”

The San Francisco-based personal finance startup is known for providing student loans refinancing at cheaper rates to college graduates in the country.

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SoFi has expanded its fintech space by also offering a cash management account and stock trading options to its members.

The fintech already sought the banking licence back in 2017. However, it was forced to withdraw the application after its co-founder and former CEO Mike Cagney resigned.

In March, FDIC had approved the banking charter for Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey’s payments company Square.