Flex Seeks Bank Charter to Scale Flexible Rent Payments
Flexible Finance aims to secure a Utah industrial bank charter to support its flexible rent payments solution Flex Rent.
The company has submitted applications to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Utah Department of Financial Institutions (UDFI) to charter a Utah state-chartered industrial bank called Flex Bank, it said in a Friday (July 24) press release.
Flex Bank would issue Flex Rent and Flex’s other credit products directly, providing Flex customers with access to FDIC-insured deposit accounts and helping Flex expand access to its flexible payment solutions that allow people to split large essential bills into smaller payments, according to the release.
The proposed bank subsidiary would operate nationally through digital channels, per the release.
Flex Co-Founder and CEO Shragie Lichtenstein said in the release that a bank charter would allow the company to strengthen its products by building directly on a foundation of federal deposit insurance as well as state and federal bank regulatory oversight.
“Rent is the single biggest bill in most people’s lives, and it’s often the one least adapted to how they’re actually paid,” Lichtenstein said. “This charter gives us a permanent, regulated foundation to keep closing that gap.”
Since 2019, Flex has processed $40 billion in rent for 3.2 million renters across the United States, according to the release.
In October, Flex partnered with real estate technology provider AppFolio to give that company’s property manager customers access to Flex Rent and enable residents to split their monthly rent payments directly from their online portal.
Before that, Flex partnered with multifamily industry operating system Entrata, real estate industry software platform provider RealPage, and property management software provider Yardi.
PYMNTS reported in March that a wave of new bank charter applications is being driven by FinTechs’ desire to secure licenses that allow them to perform specific financial functions.
On July 6, PYMNTS reported that interest in de novo banking charters has revived after several quiet years. Regulatory guidance from the OCC issued in June attempted to provide applicants with greater clarity about licensing standards, while federal regulators have shown renewed willingness to evaluate new applications on their merits.
