CUCollaborate, September 8, 2023, After Withdrawing Bank Application, Rakuten Seeks Credit Union Charter
After withdrawing three applications with the FDIC seeking a charter as an Industrial Loan Company (ILC), Rakuten, a controversial company that offers everything from cash back to consumers for purchases to fintech services, now has submitted an application to form a credit union.
Reports that the company had applied to the credit union regulator this week led the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) to call on the NCUA to oppose the Rakuten effort.
“Everything we know about how Rakuten operates in other countries suggests that its expansive structure, with linkages across financial services and other commercial activities, will mean that it wants to operate similarly in the United States,” the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) and 36 other groups wrote, in response to one of Rakuten’s ILC applications.
Update: An NCUA spokeperson said that Rakuten withdrew its credit union charter application on Sept. 5.
