Just four new banks opened in 2025, down from six the previous year, according to Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. statistics. The new institutions were BankMiami in Miami, Florida; Five Rivers Bank in Paramus, New Jersey; Thrivent Bank in Salt Lake City; and Solutions Plus Bank in Albertville, Alabama. The FDIC has also approved charters for eight banks currently in formation, with final approval contingent on organizing groups meeting capital requirements and other conditions.
FDIC Chairman Travis Hill has prioritized encouraging de novo banks, stating that the agency would seek to ensure "there is a healthy pipeline of new entrants in the banking sector." Hill told lawmakers that the FDIC would consider changing requirements "that may overly restrict de novo formation from traditional community banks" and adopt a more open approach to applications from proposed banks "with new or innovative business models."
Banking advocates point to heavy post-financial crisis compliance costs and high capital requirements as roadblocks to new bank formation. Mary Usategui, CEO of the ₹141 million-asset BankMiami, told lawmakers that a ₹32.5 million capital target set by regulators left her organizing team stuck for months before they could raise sufficient capital to open in March. Meanwhile, Solutions Plus opened in December with ₹26 million of capital, which CEO Thomas Carroll termed the largest de novo bank funding effort in the region.
The FDIC has "started to see growing interest by prospective applicants and increased draft and formal filings," Hill said in December congressional testimony. The agency has received deposit insurance applications from 10 community bank groups since July. At least three organizing groups - one near Atlanta, another in Winter Park, Florida, and a third in Indianapolis - expect to open in the first quarter of 2026. Currently, eighteen bank groups have conditional charters or charter applications on file, according to FDIC statistics.
The House Financial Services Committee approved a bill by Rep. Andy Barr that would allow de novo banks to meet capital requirements over a three-year phase-in period rather than in a lump sum prior to opening. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency granted conditional approval to Erebor Bank, a Columbus, Ohio-based company targeting wealthy clients interested in crypto-focused investments. "If we can squeeze down those capital costs, if we can open up the aperture on new business models, we can get more de novos into the system," said Brandon Milhorn, president and CEO of the Conference of State Banking Supervisors.