Jiko, a fintech startup offering an account where all customer deposits are turned into Treasury bills, has received the regulatory all-clear to buy a bank. The fintech was founded in 2016 by Stephane Lintner, a former Goldman Sachs trader. In 2017, Lintner and his 23-person team set up an office in San Francisco and a development center in Iceland, where Jiko started developing its own technology.
It is led by former Goldman Sachs trader Stephane Lintner, has bought Minnesota-based Mid-Central National Bank after securing approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.
Acting Comptroller of the Currency Brian Brooks confirmed that his agency has approved the deal. The move by Jiko represents an important milestone in the maturity and evolution of fintech companies seeking to expand the reach of their products and services by becoming banks, buying or combining with a bank, or continuing to partner with banks in other ways,” he said in an emailed statement.
The Jiko bank acquisition and the de novo charter that federal regulators granted to Varo Bank this summer “should demonstrate the optimism and positive energy for consumers, our economy and the federal banking system,” Brooks said.
Jiko offers a mobile app through which users can open a bank account (through Mid-Central) and have that money automatically invested in U.S. Treasury bills. According to its app and website, Jiko plans to offer a debit card.
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