Ramp Files with OCC for National Trust Bank Charter to Hold Digital Assets

Ramp has applied to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) for a national trust bank charter, the company said on Monday. The $60 billion corporate card firm wants the bank to hold digital assets and manage investments as a fiduciary.

The application was filed on October 16. According to Ramp, the proposed trust bank "will not take deposits or make commercial loans."

A charter would give Ramp a federal license of its own. Its website describes Ramp as a financial technology company that is not a bank, and it relies on partners for checking deposits, card issuing and its investment account. Checking deposits for Ramp customers are held at First Internet Bank of Indiana. The investment account is managed by Moment Advisors, with assets held at Apex Clearing.

Ramp said the charter would bring the new services under "a consistent federal regulatory framework." The company reports about 85,000 business customers and annualized revenue above $2 billion. It was valued at $8.1 billion in 2022, when it raised $750 million in equity and debt in a round led by Founders Fund.

Ramp joins a long line of applicants. More than 30 companies applied to become US banks in 2025, according to consulting firm Klaros Group, among them Interactive Brokers and PayPal. In the payments sector, Stripe-owned Bridge won conditional OCC approval in February for a national trust bank that would hold digital assets and manage stablecoin reserves. Circle received final approval in July for First National Digital Currency Bank, which will first hold digital assets for Circle and its affiliates.

The OCC's list of pending applications shows payments software firm Modern Treasury filing for a national trust bank on October 1 and Rain on October 5. Kraken parent Payward filed in May.

Not every application succeeds. The regulator rejected Wise's trust bank bid in July, citing compliance and money laundering concerns, and the payments company's shares fell about 9% that day. Revolut chose a broader license. In September it secured conditional approval for a full national bank charter, which still requires steps with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Federal Reserve.

The Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) sued the OCC on October 2 in federal court in Washington over the limited trust charters it has granted to crypto firms. ICBA argues that the approvals go beyond the authority Congress gave the agency. Congress did not create the charter as "a side door into the banking system for crypto firms," ICBA Chief Executive Rebeca Romero Rainey said. The lawsuit does not challenge Ramp's application directly.