Two new Utah industrial banks receive conditional approval from DFI

Two separate companies have received conditional approval to establish Utah state-chartered industrial banks. Commissioner Darryle Rude of Utah’s Department of Financial Institutions recently signed orders approving the establishment of Thrivent Bank and GM Financial Bank. The orders were signed on June 14 and are conditioned upon, among other things, the applicants obtaining federal deposit insurance from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

The approvals are the third and fourth industrial banks approved in the state since 2008.

Thrivent Bank will offer banking products to consumers and businesses nationwide, expanding the reach and impact of Thrivent’s mission to help clients build their financial futures, according to the announcement. The bank will be a digital-first bank offering a full suite of deposit and lending products. Thrivent Bank will be a wholly owned subsidiary of Thrivent Financial Holdings Inc., which is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Wisconsin-registered fraternal benefit society Thrivent Financial for Lutherans.

GM Financial Bank will primarily serve a nationwide market of consumers financing automobiles. In addition, the bank will offer FDIC-insured deposit products over the Internet and through a mobile application. The bank will be headquartered in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area and will be a wholly owned subsidiary of GM Financial Co. Inc. (GMF), an indirect subsidiary of General Motors Co. GMF has consumer and commercial lending licenses in 42 states and is supervised by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau as a larger participant in the market for automobile financing.

Utah’s Department of Financial Institutions is responsible for chartering, regulating, supervising and examining state-chartered financial institutions. The financial services companies and individuals regulated by the department represent Utah state-chartered banks, industrial banks, holding companies, credit unions, trust companies, consumer lenders, commercial lenders, money transmitters, mortgage servicers, money services businesses and escrow companies.

Utah’s Department of Financial Institutions charters and regulates roughly 87 percent of the nation’s industrial bank assets and has supervised these FDIC-insured banks for over 35 years.