Affirm Seeks Banking Charter as Capital One Moves to Acquire Brex in Fintech Consolidation Wave
Buy-now-pay-later lender Affirm has applied for an industrial loan company charter, marking the latest fintech firm to pursue direct banking powers, while Capital One announced plans to acquire corporate card and expense management startup Brex, according to a fintech industry podcast released this week.
The moves signal a continued blurring of lines between traditional banking and fintech operations, with implications for how finance departments will manage corporate spending and employee credit in the coming years. For CFOs, Affirm's charter application raises questions about whether BNPL providers will eventually compete directly with corporate card programs, while the Capital One-Brex deal suggests major banks are willing to pay up for modern expense management technology rather than build it themselves.
The ILC charter, if approved by regulators, would allow Affirm to take deposits and make loans without the full regulatory burden of a traditional bank charter. The company joins a small but growing list of fintech firms—including SoFi, which received ILC approval in 2020—seeking to own more of their funding stack rather than relying on bank partnerships. Affirm has not disclosed the timeline for regulatory review or the specific deposit-taking strategy it plans to pursue.
The Capital One acquisition of Brex represents a notable bet by a major credit card issuer on the corporate expense management category. Brex, founded in 2017, built its business around corporate cards for startups and technology companies, later expanding into expense management software. The deal terms were not disclosed in the podcast discussion, though the acquisition would give Capital One immediate access to Brex's customer base of high-growth companies and its modern software platform for managing employee spending.
The podcast, hosted by Jason Mikula of Fintech Business Weekly and Alex Johnson of Fintech Takes, also covered proposed legislation that could cap credit card interest rates at 10% and the re-emergence of the Credit Card Competition Act. The hosts speculated these proposals might serve as "mere bargaining chips" in broader financial services negotiations, though neither bill has advanced significantly in Congress as of early February.
In a separate discussion, the podcast addressed comments from Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong regarding crypto market structure legislation, though specific details of Armstrong's statements were not provided in the source material.
The Affirm charter application comes as regulators have shown increased scrutiny of fintech-bank partnerships following the Synapse bankruptcy and subsequent fallout in the banking-as-a-service sector. An ILC charter would allow Affirm to reduce its dependence on partner banks, though it would also subject the company to direct regulatory oversight and capital requirements.
For corporate finance teams, the Capital One-Brex combination raises questions about whether other major card issuers will pursue similar acquisitions or partnerships to modernize their corporate card offerings. Brex's software-first approach to expense management has put pressure on traditional corporate card programs to offer real-time visibility and automated controls—features that CFOs increasingly expect as standard rather than premium offerings.
The podcast did not provide financial terms for either transaction or specify expected closing dates for the Capital One-Brex deal.
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