UK-based money transfer giant Wise has applied to be directly regulated by the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and create a national trust bank.
If it secures a nondepositary national trust bank charter, Wise will be able to connect directly to the Federal Reserve payment systems, bypassing intermediaries.
Wise National Trust would be based in Austin, where the firm already has around 450 employees, according to Bloomberg, which first reported the application.
The move is another indication of Wise's growing ambitions in the US. Recently, the company said it will move its primary listing from London to the States.
In its application, Wise says that it has over 1.8 million active US customers, accounting for 20% of its total revenue, with the US dollar representing 48% of its global cross-border volume.
Wise is not the only fintech seeking a bank charter in the US, with both stablecoin firm Circle and blockchain payments platform Ripple also filing applications in recent days.