Update (July 25, 4:39 pm UTC): This article has been updated to include a response from Wise.
Payments company Wise will change its strategy to apply for a charter license with the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to one “under the framework of the GENIUS Act,” the legislation to regulate stablecoins in the country.
According to a Thursday notice from Wise, the company plans to file a new application for a national trust bank charter under the GENIUS Act. Investment banking group William Blair said Wise would likely not change its position on payment stablecoins with the new OCC application, despite being denied a charter to establish a national trust bank on Tuesday.
“Wise is focused on reducing the cost of cross-border transactions, independent of rail,” William Blair said of the decision to apply under GENIUS.
The OCC said in its rejection that the company could not demonstrate that it had an effective anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorism financing (CFT) compliance program and that it had “other risks of illicit financial activities.”
The GENIUS Act, enacted in July 2025, provides a framework for payment stablecoin providers in the United States, pending federal agencies’ approval of finalized regulations. However, last week regulators missed a crucial deadline to provide guidance on implementing the law before its January 2027 effective date.
Following the passage of the stablecoin bill, the OCC approved several digital asset companies’ applications for national trust charters, including Circle, Ripple Labs, Crypto.com, and Coinbase.
