Avant is building a bank from scratch as the OCC approves most charter applicants
- Avant CEO Al Goldstein says the fintech expects to move the majority of its assets and operations into Avant Bank, N.A.
- Before Avant, 42 firms applied for OCC de novo charters since January 2025, and the agency approved 27.
Avant filed for a national bank charter on September 18, 2026, asking the OCC and the FDIC to approve Avant Bank, N.A. Al Goldstein, the co-founder and CEO, says the Chicago-based lender has facilitated access to more than $17.6 billion in credit and serviced more than 4.8 million customers across a personal loan product, a credit card, and Credit Builder.
Avant has explored a charter for years, Goldstein tells me. He calls the filing “a logical next step given our stage of maturity.” The regulatory climate helps, and he says Avant is pleased that federal agencies are open to more competition in banking, which he sees as good for consumers. The OCC approved 27 of the 42 applications submitted earlier, denied two and returned one, Banking Dive reported. That leaves about a dozen applications still pending.
Avant builds while Chime buys
Chime agreed this month to pay $590 million in cash for Stride Bank, its partner of more than seven years. Chime calls the deal “a faster and more proven path to full-stack ownership” than pursuing a de novo charter. Tearsheet covered the deal, which Chime expects to close in the first half of 2027. Affirm applied in January for a Nevada industrial loan company. Avant chose the de novo route.
Goldstein says Avant’s scale and operating foundation made the de novo route the right call. Avant has spent more than 13 years building financial products for middle-income Americans. “We seek to become the core financial partner for middle-income Americans,” he says. He estimates his target population at more than 100 million people whom legacy financial services have not adequately supported.
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