The company, rebranded from its previous iteration Ivy, aims to revamp the clearing process to fit an artificial intelligence-native model.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Augustus has received the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency\u2019s conditional approval to operate a national bank, the company announced Monday<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The company, rebranded from its earlier iteration Ivy<\/a>, said it aims to revamp a \u201cclearing model [that] runs on legacy correspondents that are closed 115 days a year, built for humans, and take two days to settle.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cLegacy banks are made of paper, Augustus is made of code,\u201d co-founder Ferdinand Dabitz said in a statement. \u201cIt\u2019s obvious we need to upgrade clearing to the [artificial intelligence] era. But only this unique regulatory moment at the intersection of US financial regulatory innovation, the Genius Act, and AI enables us to finally do so.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dabitz, 25, would be CEO of Augustus Bank, N.A. \u2013 becoming the youngest CEO of a federally chartered bank in more than 100 years, the company said. The bank would be based in Dallas, according to its application<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a LinkedIn post Monday<\/a>, Dabitz touted the company\u2019s namesake, the Roman emperor Augustus as \u201cthe inventor of modern currency.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen he came into power every province had their own coin,\u201d Dabitz wrote. \u201cHe centralized the mint, the coinage and invented what we still know today: The national currency system.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He also called the emperor \u201cthe original underdog.\u201d \u201cToday, I\u2019m proud of a team that also succeeded, against all odds,\u201d he added, asserting his team is \u201cre-inventing money one more time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Augustus\u2019 banking C-suite would be stocked with finance veterans. Greg Quarles<\/a>, the bank\u2019s presumptive president, has served as CEO of Green Dot Bank, United Texas Bank and H&R Block Bank, according to his LinkedIn profile. Quarles also spent more than 17 years at the OCC, where he was an examiner and assistant deputy comptroller.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen he was named Julius Caesar\u2019s heir, there were easily 10 people who were objectively more likely than him to win in the following struggle for power. He still succeeded, against all odds,\u201d Dabitz wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n