← Insights
National trust bank or national bank?
Same regulator. Very different powers, costs and timelines.
The short version.
A national trust bank is limited to fiduciary work: custody, trust and related services. A de novo national bank is full service: deposits, lending, payments. Both are chartered by the OCC.
National trust bank
De novo national bank
Deposits
Generally no
Yes
Lending
No
Yes
FDIC insurance
Usually not required
Required
Parent company
Generally outside bank holding company rules
Becomes a bank holding company
Typical fit
Custody, stablecoins, fiduciary services
Neobanks, lenders, payments
Why fintechs choose trust charters.
Faster, lighter capital, and no holding-company regime for the parent. It is why most of the recent digital-asset applicants on our charter watch are trust banks.
A trust charter is a narrower door, but for the right business it opens much faster.
The trade-off.
Without deposits or lending, revenue depends on fees. And neither charter guarantees access to a Federal Reserve master account. Choose by the business you will run in five years, not the one you run today.