OppFi withdrew applications to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, according to the release.
OppFi said in the release that it was unable to engage with the regulators to address potential concerns due to the application process’ communication restrictions and the regulators’ “lack of articulated objective standards” for evaluating businesses.
“We believe that our applications satisfied the existing statutory criteria for approval, but there is a lack of clearly articulated standards by which those criteria are being used to evaluate our applications and the proposed combination with BNC,” OppFi CEO and Executive Chairman Todd Schwartz said in the release. “We encourage federal regulators to expeditiously articulate clear standards that will allow innovative community banks and financial technology platforms to combine to better serve the tens of millions of Americans whose needs are not being met by traditional banks.”
OppFi announced April 29 that it was set to acquire BNC Bank for $130 million. OppFi said the deal would capitalize on both OppFi’s digital finance capabilities and BNC’s national banking charter.
BNCCORP said in a Sept. 17 press release that its shareholders approved the sale. The company added that completion of the transaction remained subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.
On Sept. 30, U.S. Sens. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) sent a letter to OppFi saying that the company should withdraw its application to acquire the bank. The senators said OppFi’s business model is based on “predatory lending practices,” such as triple-digit interest rates.
Schwartz said during a Wednesday (Oct. 28) earnings call that OppFi was “continuing to respond to regulators promptly, qualitatively and quantitatively” and that the company was “hopeful that we can get this resolved by Q4.”
Another online financial services company, Enova, said Sept. 14 that it withdrew its bank regulatory applications related to its proposed acquisition of Grasshopper Bancorp. Enova said that the process is “susceptible to political pressure and outside advocacy.”
In OppFi’s Tuesday press release, OppFi said it plans to engage with federal regulators to advocate for the creation of standards that will allow community banks and FinTech platforms to combine.
OppFi also reaffirmed its revised full-year 2026 guidance, which includes total revenue between $600 million and $610 million, adjusted net income between $115 million and $120 million, and adjusted earnings per share between $1.34 and $1.40.
“OppFi is executing on the strategic transformation of our business as we build a more diversified, technology-enabled financial platform designed to better serve customers across their financial journeys,” Schwartz said in the release. “We are confident in the long-term earning power of OppFi and our opportunity to create substantial long-term value, regardless of whether we do so under a national banking charter.”
