Piermont CEO Says Fintech Charter Wins Mean Little Without Strong CAMELS Ratings

Piermont Bank CEO Wendy Cai-Lee said newly chartered fintechs and nonbanks will be judged on how they handle regulatory responsibilities, not on securing a charter, speaking at the Money20/20 conference in Las Vegas last week. She noted that getting a charter differs sharply from earning a good CAMELS rating on annual safety and soundness exams. The $505 million-asset New York digital commercial lender, founded in 2019, reported a $5 million loss for the first half of this year, following a $4.6 million loss in 2025 and a $5.3 million loss in 2024, according to FDIC data. Piermont entered a 2024 consent order with the FDIC over alleged banking-as-a-service deficiencies but never considered exiting BaaS. The bank announced fintech partnerships with BlxckPay and MassPay last week. Cai-Lee said the bank prioritizes deepening existing client relationships over broad expansion, citing more efficient risk management. She also said AI may reduce banks' reliance on certain fintech services.