CHICAGO, Sept. 18, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Avant, LLC (“Avant” or “the Company”), a data-driven financial platform, today announced the filing of an application with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to establish an insured national bank, Avant Bank, N.A.
Subject to regulatory approval, Avant Bank, N.A. would enable Avant to expand access to affordable, transparent credit and offer banking products and financial health tools in one integrated, user-friendly digital banking platform.
“Since we founded Avant in 2012, our mission has been the same: move financial lives forward for the more than 100 million everyday Americans who are overlooked by the legacy system,” said Al Goldstein, Co-Founder and CEO of Avant. “We’ve spent more than thirteen years developing a data-driven approach to credit that serves this population at scale. A national bank charter would further our mission, help reduce our cost of funds, and enable us to offer products under one regulatory framework.”
If approved, a bank charter would allow Avant to take more direct control of the customer experience and expand access to high-quality, reasonably priced credit using Avant CreditOS™, its proprietary decisioning engine. “For more than a decade, we’ve worked to give middle-income Americans a fairer shot at credit than their credit score alone would suggest,” said Charles Whittaker, Avant’s Chief Business Officer and proposed CEO of Avant Bank, N.A. “A national bank charter would let us build and service our products end-to-end with the goal of creating more meaningful value for our customers.”
Avant has operated across a range of market cycles and funding environments over the course of its history. The Company’s diversified and mature funding strategy results in a hybrid of on- and off-balance-sheet assets, and funding model diversification has included various forms of long-term debt and whole loan sales. “A bank charter would enable further diversification, added resilience, and access to a lower cost of funds through the introduction of deposits as a funding source,” said Kevin Friedrich, Avant’s Chief Financial Officer and proposed CFO of Avant Bank, N.A.
Delivering on the Company’s vision depends on the infrastructure behind it. “We recognize that submitting the application is only the first step of our journey – operating a de novo national bank requires sustained discipline,” said Margaret Hermes, Avant’s Chief Operating Officer, and proposed President and COO of Avant Bank, N.A. “We’ve spent years building the compliance and operating infrastructure to support our business, and we believe that foundation positions us well to meet regulatory standards for a national bank. We look forward to working with the OCC and FDIC on this next phase.”
Avant worked closely with advisors Klaros Group and Covington & Burling LLP in preparing the application.
About Avant
Avant is a data-driven platform at the intersection of technology and credit, built to meet the financial needs of millions of middle-income Americans. The company leverages data and machine learning to deliver access to a suite of financial products and services anchored by credit cards, personal loans, and a personal financial management tool. Since its founding in 2012, Avant has served approximately 4.8 million unique customers, connecting them to over $17.6 billion in credit through personal loans and credit cards. For more information, visit www.avant.com. Avant-branded credit products are issued by WebBank.
Media Contact
Lucy Peng
avant@capvstrategies.com
