The U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), an independent bureau of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, has found that all nine of the largest national banks it supervises maintained policies between 2020 and September 2025 that could have restricted customers' access to financial services based on political or religious beliefs or lawful business activities. The OCC charters, regulates, and supervises all national banks in the United States, which places the nine institutions named in the review directly under its supervisory authority.

The findings stem from a supervisory review of JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citibank, Wells Fargo, U.S. Bank, Capital One, PNC Bank, TD Bank, and BMO Bank, conducted under President Donald Trump's executive order on fair access to banking. The agency published its findings in an official news release.

Broad Reputational-Risk Policies

According to the OCC, the banks relied on broad reputational-risk policies that lacked clear standards or objective, risk-based criteria, potentially disadvantaging customers on the basis of their political, religious or social views, as well as their lawful business activities. Reputational risk generally refers to the possibility that a customer relationship could damage a bank's public image — a broad criterion that, without defined standards, can be applied inconsistently across customer types.

The review also identified public and internal policies restricting access to banking services for businesses in several sectors, including oil and gas, coal, firearms, detention facilities, tobacco and e-cigarettes, and digital assets.

Scope of the Review

The scope of the examination was extensive: the agency reviewed nearly 100,000 complaints and received about 50,000 documents from the banks, comprising approximately 420,000 pages.

Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan Gould said the findings showed that major banks had denied services to customers and lawful businesses. He added that the OCC was considering further regulatory and supervisory changes to reduce the likelihood of such practices recurring.

Steps Already Taken

The OCC has already removed reputational risk from its bank examination considerations and clarified how it evaluates potential debanking when reviewing licensing applications and conducting certain examinations.

Implications for Digital Assets

The findings could have implications for the digital asset industry, whose companies have faced concerns over access to traditional banking services. Banks have in recent years faced scrutiny over the closure of accounts belonging to customers in politically sensitive and emerging industries, a practice commonly referred to as debanking. Cryptocurrency firms in the United States and elsewhere have repeatedly cited account closures as an obstacle to their operations. Access to bank accounts underpins routine operations for crypto businesses, including payroll, vendor payments, and the movement of customer funds between fiat currency and digital assets.

The OCC said its broader work to promote fair access and objective, risk-based banking decisions remains ongoing.

Source: BitcoinKE