Thrivent Financial for Lutherans is looking to form a bank in Utah.
An application was filed on Friday with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. seeking deposit insurance for Thrivent Bank, according to FDIC records. Thrivent Bank would operate as an industrial loan company, based on records with the Utah Department of Financial Institutions.
The bank would be a wholly owned subsidiary, Thrivent Financial said in a statement issued Wednesday. The company said the charter would allow it to directly invest capital to add bank offerings.
Thrivent Bank would use a digital platform to offer services nationwide.
Thrivent Financial said in its filing with the FDIC that it would seek to merge the $725 million-asset Thrivent Federal Credit Union into the bank if the ILC charter is approved. The company said it would form the bank "whether or not the merger occurs."
The credit union, which has 56,000 members, "will provide a strong, proven foundation for the bank’s operations, products and services, upon which the bank may grow and develop enhanced products and services," the filing added. "As such, the bank will not become fully operational until the merger transaction is completed."
A Thrivent Financial spokeswoman said the proposed merger would require regulatory approval and support from the credit union's board and membership.
Thrivent Credit Union
The company said in its FDIC application that Brian Milton would serve as CEO of the proposed bank.
Milton will serve as the company's head of banking and oversee its efforts to add more consumer products and services, the spokeswoman said. He would run Thrivent Bank if a charter and deposit insurance are approved.
Milton recently served as head of retail banking at MUFG Union Bank and was president of its PurePoint Financial digital bank.
Karin Lockovitch, a former chief compliance officer at Bank of the West, would become chief risk officer at Thrivent Bank, according to the FDIC application.
“We’re continuously exploring strategic options to invest in and build out our banking offerings in support of our commitment to our current and future clients,” David Royal, Thrivent Financial’s executive vice president of asset management, said in the company's statement.
“Owning a bank would allow us to leverage our existing experience providing banking products and solutions that reflect our purposeful approach to finances, integrating them into modern, digital and holistic client experiences and channels that meet the needs of a broad range of consumers seeking financial clarity,” Royal added.
Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, with dual headquarters in Minneapolis and Appleton, Wis., is a Fortune 500 conglomerate that offers a broad range of insurance and banking products to its more than three million members. It serves 2.3 million clients across the country.
Thrivent is the latest in a series of companies seeking an ILC, a charter that has faced strong resistance from the banking industry.
Brex, a San Francisco fintech, submitted an application last week. The merchant payments company
