Propel Holdings Gets OK to Launch Banking Services

FinTech Propel Holdings received regulatory permission to launch its own bank.

The approval came from the Office of the Commissioner of Financial Institutions (OCFI) of Puerto Rico and allows Propel Bank to be licensed as an international financial entity (IFE) overseen by the regulator, according to a Tuesday (Dec. 2) press release.

“Propel Bank represents an evolution of Propel’s FinTech-bank partnership platform,” the release said. “At launch, Propel Bank will focus on serving existing and future bank partners by providing core consumer lending services, including underwriting, compliance and customer service. Propel Holdings will not become a bank holding company.”

The IFE license allows Propel Bank to have an expanded presence in existing and new markets, according to the release. The bank will be headquartered in Puerto Rico with its own management team, employ the company’s artificial intelligence-powered platform, and is expected to become operational in the first half of 2026.

“Propel Bank marks the next step in our journey to become global leaders by strengthening our partnership platform, expanding our reach and opening new pathways for growth,” Propel Holdings CEO Clive Kinross said in the release. “This approval validates the strength of our team, our technology and the business we’ve built, and positions us to create greater opportunity for partners, shareholders and underserved consumers.”

The PYMNTS Intelligence report “Global Money Movement: How Digital Wallets Are Transforming Cross-Border Payments” found that 62% of banks in the United States and the United Kingdom are actively seeking to work with FinTech firms to bolster their cross-border payment offerings.

“This integration signals a trend in the banking industry where collaboration with FinTech firms is becoming a key strategy for driving innovation,” PYMNTS wrote in March.

Meanwhile, PYMNTS spoke with Propel’s Kinross in June about the credit pipeline, which he called “as tight as it’s been over the last 10 years” amid a surge in delinquencies.

For companies like Propel, which provides alternative access to credit for underserved consumers, the shift marks a chance to serve people often overlooked by traditional institutions.

“There’s a big distinction between riskier consumers and risky business,” Kinross said.