Loopholes: Column NA Helps Fintechs like Mercury and Brez Evade the Community Reinvestment Act so FFW Writes to OCC - more here

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by Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book Substack

FEDERAL COURTHOUSE, June 12 – The fintech Mercury has put up its signs on a flashy low-rise building on the corner of Delancey and Christie Street on NYC’s Lower East Side. In small print it discloses that Mercury is not a bank, but uses Column Bank N.A.

So who does the Community Reinvestment Act compliance for this set-up?

Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch decided to look into it. Column’s website does not even mention the CRA, unlike nearly every bank. Its regulator the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has essentially stopped enforcing CRA for the past 18 months, intent on handing out new bank charter to crypto firms.

Fair Finance Watch has commented to the OCC on those charters and the lack of CRA, and on the OCC’s decision to eliminate its Weekly Bulletin providing public notice of applications, and many break-downs of its replacement.

Fifth Third, in the midst of closing the 76 branches Inner City Press made the Federal Reserve disclose under FOIA while the Fed was rubber stamping 5/3’s Comerica acquisition, had a deal with Brex, which also uses Column Bank, N.A. (and artificial intelligence, without disclosure).

So how to address this Colum Bank NA fintech CRA loophole? Fair Finance Watch has already written to the OCC, cc-ing the FDIC.

The beginning of action is information. So here are a few paragraphs, the beginning of a new project:

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