Edward Jones gets green light to launch industrial bank

• Key insight: Edward Jones received approval from state and federal regulators to open Edward Jones Bank, which will take deposits and plans to offer certificates of deposit.
  
• What's at stake: The financial advisory firm, which first sought an industrial loan charter in 2020, is one of numerous companies that have applied for approval to open such a bank in the past year.
  
• Forward look: There are several pending applications for industrial loan charters at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., including one from PayPal and another from Affirm.

Nearly six years after it originally filed an application for an industrial loan charter, the financial advisory firm Edward Jones has received state and federal approval to open an industrial bank.

The St. Louis-based company has been granted conditional approval from both the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Utah Department of Financial Institutions to open Edward Jones Bank, it said Friday in a press release. The firm had filed an application in July 2020, but withdrew it in October 2022 following discussions with the FDIC.

Edward Jones then resubmitted the application in April of last year, according to information on the FDIC's website. It is the third company to receive an industrial loan charter so far this year, and the third to win approval since Donald Trump returned to the White House in January 2025, according to a search of industrial loan charter applications on the FDIC's website.

Last month, the automaking giants General Motors and Ford Motor Company each received approvals to open their own industrial banks.

Edward Jones Bank will accept deposits and plans to offer certificates of deposits, the company said. Those offerings will be combined with the firm's existing reserve line of credit portfolio, which will expand from 47 states and Washington, D.C., to all 50 states, according to the firm's press release.

The ability to offer banking services, in conjunction with the firm's existing advisory capabilities, will help Edward Jones meet clients' financial needs in a more holistic manner, David Chubak, head of wealth management and field management at Edward Jones, said in the release. 

"For over a century, clients have relied on Edward Jones financial advisors for trusted investment and retirement guidance, and we recognize when client needs are shifting," Chubak said. "With the approval of our bank application, we can now deliver even better on what our clients are asking for."

The bank is set to launch in early 2027, according to the release.

The Salt Lake City-based bank will be led by Andrea Moss, the former CEO of Nelnet Bank, which received its industrial loan charter in 2020. Moss left Nelnet in 2025, according to an Edward Jones spokesperson.

For years, Edward Jones has been looking for ways to offer more traditional banking services. In August 2024, it announced a partnership with Minneapolis-based U.S. Bank, through which Edward Jones financial advisors offer co-branded U.S. Bank deposit and credit card products to the firm's nine million-plus clients. The cards have been available since November.

Its first plan to obtain an industrial loan charter was abandoned during the Biden administration. In explaining the decision, the firm cited conversations with the FDIC and what it characterized then as "the current environment." At that time, Democrats held the majority on the FDIC board, and the agency was viewed as less friendly to the idea of opening industrial banks.

Since the start of the second Trump administration, several entities have applied for industrial loan charters. The list includes Nissan Motor Acceptance Corp., which filed its industrial loan charter application last June; PayPal, which submitted its application in December; and the buy now/pay later company Affirm, which filed for a charter about a month ago.

Traditional banks have long been wary of industrial loan charters. While they are regulated and insured at the federal level by the FDIC, they are exempt from the Bank Holding Company Act, if they technically abstain from nominally offering demand deposit accounts.

Last fall, Senate Banking Committee ranking member Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Rep. Andy Kim, D-N.J., urged the FDIC to halt industrial loan company charter approvals until Congress passes a law defining such entities as banks under the Bank Holding Company Act.

On Friday, the National Association of Industrial Bankers applauded the FDIC's approval of Edward Jones Bank, saying it will expand access to banking services in underserved areas.

"The FDIC approval process confirms that Edward Jones has met the highest standards of safety, soundness and consumer protection in banking," Frank Pignanelli, the trade group's executive director, said in a press release. "Because of Edward Jones' strong presence in many underserved areas across the country, this approval will help promote financial inclusion and banking access by bringing fully regulated banking and financial services to more of the people who need them most."