The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has approved investment firm Edward Jones’ application for an industrial loan company charter, the agency announced Friday.
The approval caps a nearly six-year journey for Edward Jones. The company first filed for an ILC charter in 2020 but withdrew it two years later, citing “the current environment” at the time and “recent conversations” with the FDIC.
Edward Jones resubmitted its ILC charter application last April to the FDIC and the Utah Department of Financial Institutions.
The investment firm, in a Friday press release, called the charter approval a “pivotal step” in Edward Jones’ evolution.
“We recognize when client needs are shifting,” David Chubak, the company’s head of wealth management and field management, said in a statement. “By bringing together our client's entire financial picture, we’re empowering our financial advisors to provide deeper, more meaningful advice and support clients through every stage of their financial journey.”
Edward Jones is not the only firm recently to get the green light to launch an industrial bank. Ford and General Motors in January received ILC nods from the FDIC. And other similar applications await: Nissan applied for an ILC charter in June 2025, and PayPal submitted an application in December.
The FDIC under President Donald Trump in 2020 approved its first new ILCs in more than a decade, but green lights in the Biden era were sparse.
FDIC Chair Travis Hill last year touted the ILC charter as one of a handful of ways to boost the establishment of new banks.
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, though, have long argued the ILC designation exempts companies from the definition of a “bank” under the Bank Holding Company Act. As long as industrial banks don’t offer demand deposit accounts, they can bypass oversight by the Federal Reserve, opponents have said.
“The Rakutens and the Googles of the world shouldn’t be able to circumvent the Fed,” Sen. John Kennedy, R-LA, said in 2019, introducing a bill to close that “loophole.”
“If they’re allowed to handle your banking services, they’re going to turn into continents,” he said.
To that end, Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-MA, and Andy Kim, D-NJ, last October proposed a moratorium on commercially owned ILC charters until such entities are defined as “banks” under the BHC Act.
Under the approval the FDIC granted Friday, Edward Jones Bank must maintain a leverage capital ratio of at least 9% and must open within a year. It also must gain the FDIC’s non-objection for any changes to its board or senior executive team in its first three years and receive an annual independent audit.
The bank will launch with no less than $330 million in initial funds, and must finalize and implement a Community Reinvestment Act strategic plan, according to the FDIC’s order Friday.
The industrial bank, which will be headquartered in the Salt Lake City area, will expand the availability of Edward Jones’ reserve line of credit portfolio to all 50 states and Washington, D.C. The bank, which aims to open in 2027, will also take deposits and offer certificates of deposit, the company said.
“Planning for what’s next looks different to every person and every family,” Penny Pennington, the managing partner of Edward Jones, said in a statement Friday. “This expansion, along with meaningful partnerships with our financial advisors, will allow us to further help millions of families achieve what matters most to them.”
The FDIC approval “complements” a partnership Edward Jones holds with U.S. Bank, through which the investment firm’s clients can get co-branded checking and credit card products, the company said.
Edward Jones counts 9 million customers and $2.5 trillion in assets under care, the company said.
