Trump Fintech Executive Order: Crypto Gets Fed Access. So Do Lenders Charging 300% APR.

The regulatory language the crypto industry won on May 19, 2026 also covers lenders that 45 states have tried to regulate out of existence. President Trump's fintech executive order, titled "Integrating Financial Technology Innovation Into Regulatory Frameworks," directs federal financial regulators to dismantle barriers separating fintech companies from the core infrastructure of the U.S. payment system.

Crypto exchanges, stablecoin issuers, and blockchain payment processors are among the firms in scope. So are Enova and OppFi, two online lenders charging as much as 300% APR with active bank charter applications that, if approved, would allow them to operate in states that currently ban those rates.

What Trump's fintech executive order actually does

The order runs on two tracks. The first directs every federal financial regulator, including the SEC, CFTC, and OCC, to identify within 90 days any regulations that impede fintech firms from partnering with insured depository institutions, broker-dealers, and investment advisers, and to act on those findings within 180 days.

Applications for bank charters, credit union charters, and federal licences are explicitly included in the review, with the order directing regulators to streamline processes for eligible fintech firms seeking entry into the federal banking system.

The second track targets the Federal Reserve. The order requests, and the legal distinction carries weight, that the Fed conduct a comprehensive evaluation of its framework governing payment account access for uninsured depository institutions and non-bank financial companies, including digital asset firms, and submit that evaluation to the White House within 120 days.

The order preserves the Fed's formal independence and cannot force the central bank to grant access. Luke Nolan, senior researcher at CoinShares, told Decrypt the order creates pressure through public expectation, not any binding legal mandate.

The order's fintech definition does not exclude high-cost lenders. Sullivan & Cromwell, Troutman Pepper Locke, and the Consumer Financial Services Law Monitor each confirmed independently that the scope covers companies providing innovative financial services and solutions, a description that applies to crypto platforms and to online lending businesses built on proprietary technology with equal force.

The National Consumer Law Center, a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization, stated the definition is broad enough to cover any non-bank company using digital technology to offer financial services, with no meaningful exclusion for lenders charging triple-digit rates. Crypto regulation in Congress has been moving in parallel, but the executive order does not wait for that process.

Enova and OppFi: the bank charter applications active right now

Enova International, the parent company of CashNetUSA, NetCredit, and OnDeck, filed an OCC application in January 2026 to acquire Grasshopper Bank for $369 million. The deal also requires Federal Reserve approval and is expected to close in the second half of 2026. Enova's consumer lending products carry APRs ranging from 100% to 300%. A coalition of more than 100 advocacy organizations wrote to Congress in May 2026 urging regulators to block the application, citing charge-off rates exceeding 50% on some Enova loan products as evidence that many borrowers cannot repay at those rates.

OppFi announced its own acquisition on April 29, 2026: an agreement to purchase BNCCORP and its subsidiary BNC National Bank for approximately $130 million. That deal requires regulatory approval from the OCC, the Federal Reserve, and the FDIC and is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026.

OppFi charges APRs exceeding 160% on its consumer loan products, according to consumer advocacy organizations that have filed objections to the acquisition. Both applications are currently under review by the same regulators the executive order now instructs to streamline their processes and reduce barriers to fintech entry.

How a national bank charter bypasses 45 states

Under the National Bank Act, a nationally chartered institution operates under federal law rather than the laws of the states where its customers live. Federal law preempts state interest rate caps for nationally chartered banks, meaning a fintech lender that obtains a charter can charge rates that individual states have capped or banned outright.

Forty-five states currently have laws restricting or prohibiting the rates Enova and OppFi charge. Without a national charter, these lenders have relied on rent-a-bank arrangements: routing loans through out-of-state banks operating under permissive federal rules, then buying back the loans to reclaim the economic interest, while the originating bank's federal status determines the applicable rate.

A national bank charter makes the intermediary unnecessary. The fintech lender becomes the bank, with the authority to operate under federal preemption in every state simultaneously. The OCC received 14 de novo charter applications in 2025 alone, nearly matching the total from the prior four years combined, according to PYMNTS. High-cost fintech lenders have pursued this path before. What the current regulatory environment has changed is how achievable it has become.

The fintech door, and who walks through it

The order does not distinguish between the fintech firms it covers. Crypto exchanges seeking Fed master accounts and online lenders seeking national bank charters to operate in states where their rates are banned are both fintech firms under its language, both entitled to streamlined application processes, and both subject to the same regulatory timeline.

Since early 2025, the CFPB has ceased conducting most investigations and its casework has been significantly diminished, after the Trump administration sought to reduce the bureau from approximately 1,700 employees to 200, according to a February 2026 GAO report and reporting by Government Executive. The communities most likely to encounter a 300% APR loan product are the same communities driving adoption of lower-cost AI financial tools and crypto payment services: financially excluded, operating outside the formal banking system, and making decisions with limited access to professional advice.

The door being opened to crypto companies and the door being opened to lenders charging 300% APR in states that banned those rates are the same door.

Editor's note

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