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Carlos Pacheco, CEO of Premier Members Credit Union (Boulder, Colo.), will testify on behalf of NAFCU during Thursday's House Financial Services Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Financial Institutions hearing on fintech charters. Pacheco is the only financial institution representative set to testify.

The hearing, scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. Eastern, will explore risks fintech chartering poses to the financial system and ways to ensure adequate safeguards are in place to promote safety and soundness, consumer protection, and market fairness. Of note, former Acting Comptroller of the Currency Brian Brooks is also set to testify.

With a new video, op-ed from President and CEO Dan Berger, and issue brief outlining potential chartering schemes, NAFCU is fighting to ensure fintech banks operate on a level playing field with credit unions and urging policymakers to make necessary changes to combat the risks posed to the financial system by fintechs applying to become a bank or acquiring a bank. The association recently wrote to the CFPB, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), and the House Financial Services and Energy and Commerce Committees on this topic.

Prior to his resignation from the OCC, NAFCU was engaged with Brooks as he pursued a novel bank licensing approach at the agency. The association and other industry trades raised concerns about the potential policy, legal, and systemic implications granting national bank charters for fintechs and uninsured banks would have on the financial system.

Stay tuned to NAFCU Today for details on Pacheco's testimony and a recap of the hearing.