(Reuters) - Social Finance Inc, the online lender known as SoFi, said on Monday it applied for a new bank charter with the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
The company has applied for an industrial loan bank charter in Utah under the name SoFi Bank and listed a Salt Lake City location as its address.
Online news portal TechCrunch first reported the news of SoFi's application. http://tcrn.ch/2te7IJJ
SoFi Bank will operate as an online-only institution, with no branches or deposit-taking ATMs, the TechCrunch report said.
The bank will offer customers FDIC-insured NOW account and a credit card product, the report said.
SoFi, which started out as a company that refinances student loans, launched a digital wealth management platform in May.
San Francisco-based SoFi raised $500 million in a Series F financing round led by Silver Lake Partners earlier this year. The company's investors include Japanese telecommunications and internet company SoftBank Group Corp <9984.T>.
(Reporting by Narottam Medhora in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)
