Wise Plans to Resubmit U.S. Banking License Application Under GENIUS Act

Application Background

British cross-border payments firm Wise plans to re-submit a banking license application under the GENIUS Act (full name: Guiding Uniform and Innovative National Electronic Stablecoin Act) proposed by the U.S. Senate. Wise previously applied for a national banking license from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) but withdrew in 2020.

License Intent

Wise states that with a license, it would be able to more directly participate in the issuance and settlement of USD stablecoins.

Industry Analysis

The U.S. stablecoin legislative process is accelerating. The GENIUS Act aims to create a federal regulatory framework for stablecoin issuance and settlement. Analysts believe that traditional payment institutions proactively adopting compliance frameworks means that in machine-to-machine payment scenarios, pre-settlement compliance checks such as "payer identity, payee identity, and payment feasibility" are shifting from optional operations to necessary components of the infrastructure. Standardized regulatory sandboxes and KYA (Know Your Agent) mechanisms may become benchmarks for cross-border correspondent payment compliance.