Bank Charter Would Have Enabled OppFi’s 195% APR Loans in Every State
WASHINGTON – Consumer advocates cheered news today that predatory lender Opportunity Financial (OppFi) has dropped its proposed acquisition of BNC Bank. A broad coalition of consumer, civil rights, legal services, community organizations, and academics urged Congress and federal banking regulators to reject the move, which would have allowed OppFi to use BNC’s national bank charter to make 195% interest loans in all 50 states. In September, Enova International ended its proposed acquisition of Grasshopper Bank amid similar public pressure.
“Bank regulators and members of Congress have every reason to scrutinize predatory lenders’ business model,” said Lauren Saunders, senior attorney at the National Consumer Law Center. “OppFi and other fintech lenders must not be allowed to turn a national bank charter into a license to ignore state rate caps and prey on people struggling to make ends meet.”
“A bank charter comes with the responsibility to serve the public safely and fairly, not abuse the privilege to push triple digit interest loans into communities in every state,” said Tom Feltner, associate director of consumer policy at Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund. “OppFi may have withdrawn this latest attempt, but other companies are continuing the push to abuse the banking system for everything from buy-now-pay-later to novel crypto charters. Federal regulators must stand up for people and communities rather than rubber-stamp special privileges for tech companies looking to play by their own rules.”
“OppFi could convince its investors that a charter would lower funding costs and allow it to sidestep state interest rate caps, but it never would have been able to make a case to the public that triple-digit interest rate loans will help people,” said Adam Rust, director of financial services at the Consumer Federation of America. “With Enova first and now OppFi, the lesson to be drawn is that national bank charters can not be granted to predatory lenders.”
“While OppFi’s withdrawal, like Enova’s before it, is something that we celebrate, greater transparency from the regulators is still needed,” said Fair Finance Watch Executive Director Matthew R. Lee. “We opposed both applications, and are having to litigate a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the Federal Reserve for withholding fully eight pages of its questions to Enova. Will the same be necessary to test OppFi’s public claims?”
“OppFi drains borrowers dry — financially devastating families and communities along the way and making the lender unfit for our insured banking system,” said Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) Policy Counsel Katelin Kaiser. “Following the withdrawal of bank applications from OppFi and, recently, Enova, federal banking regulators should clearly state that high-cost lenders cannot use a national bank charter to override state protections against high-cost loans.”
Related Resources
- Press Release: Predatory Lender Enova Drops Bid to Become National Bank, Sept. 15, 2026
- Press Release: Broad Coalition Opposes 195% APR Bank Charter for OppFi, Which Seeks to Make Payday Loans in Every State, July 31, 2026
- Press Release: Fed Urged to Reject Bank Application that Would Greenlight Enova’s 100% APR Loans Nationwide, Apr. 23, 2026
- NCLC Issue Brief: High-Cost Rent-a-Bank Loan Watch List, July 21, 2026
- CRL Report: Lost Opportunities: How OppFi Traps Borrowers in Unaffordable Debt, Jan. 27, 2026
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