At a bank, the head of payments or transaction banking usually owns the budget for stablecoin infrastructure, and a digital assets lead runs the evaluation. Treasury, compliance, third-party risk and security can each stop the deal. At a fintech, the head of payments or the CFO buys, and the sponsor bank behind the fintech often holds a veto.
Where does stablecoin work sit inside a bank?
In payments, at the banks that have shipped something. J.P. Morgan runs Kinexys, its blockchain unit, inside its Payments business. Kinexys reports a $5 billion daily average volume and $3 trillion processed since launch, and its deposit token JPM Coin (JPMD) is available to institutional clients on Base (J.P. Morgan, 28 April 2026; company-reported). Partners named on the same page include Siemens and BMW Group, so the business case starts from corporate treasury clients.
A consumer bank looks different. SoFi Bank, a US national bank, launched SoFiUSD on 27 May 2026 for its nearly 15 million members, on Ethereum and Solana, with institutional trading on the exchange Bullish (SoFi, 27 May 2026). Here the product team that owns the app shares the decision with treasury, because the bank holds the reserves.
Before you write to anyone, find out which model your target follows. Read its press releases, earnings call remarks and conference speaker lists for the unit name and the person who presents it.
Who sits in the buying group?
Six roles at a bank and four at a fintech usually take part. The first row in each block owns the budget. The rest can delay or block.
| Organisation | Role | What they decide | What they need from you |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bank | Head of payments or transaction banking | Budget, client use case, launch date | Revenue or cost case tied to named client segments |
| Bank | Digital assets lead | Vendor shortlist, chain choice | Technical design, references at regulated firms |
| Bank | Treasury | Reserve management, liquidity | Redemption flows, reserve reporting |
| Bank | Compliance and AML | Sanctions screening, travel rule, monitoring | Screening method, alert handling, audit trail |
| Bank | Third-party risk and procurement | Vendor approval | Security reports, financials, exit plan |
| Bank | Technology and security | Key management, integration | Architecture, incident history, penetration tests |
| Fintech | Head of payments or CFO | Budget and timing | Cost per transaction against current rails |
| Fintech | Head of product | Feature scope | API docs, sandbox, launch plan |
| Fintech | Compliance officer | Licence fit | Licences held, screening approach |
| Fintech | Sponsor bank | Whether the flow is allowed | The same pack a bank's own risk team would ask for |
Sell to the budget owner, and send the risk material to the other roles early. A deal that reaches third-party risk with no security pack ready can sit for a full review cycle.
Which regulatory dates set the timing?
US banks are buying against a fixed calendar. The GENIUS Act takes effect on the earlier of 18 January 2027 or 120 days after regulators issue final rules (Sullivan & Cromwell, March 2026). The OCC proposed its implementing rule on 25 February 2026, with comments due by 1 May 2026. Until final rules appear, 18 January 2027 is the latest the Act can take effect. The proposal lets insured national banks and federal savings associations seek approval for subsidiaries that issue payment stablecoins. It also sets reserve backing of at least one to one, segregation rules for custodians of reserves, and a $5 million minimum capital level for new issuers.
The charter list is growing too. On 12 December 2025 the OCC conditionally approved Ripple, Circle, BitGo, Fidelity Digital Assets and Paxos for national trust bank charters, which cover fiduciary activities such as custody (CoinDesk, 12 December 2025).
Each date creates work a vendor can sell into: issuance platforms for bank subsidiaries, reserve custody and reporting, and screening tools for stablecoin flows. Lead with the date that applies to the bank's own plan.
How do you find the right person?
Check every name against two sources before you contact them, because contact data goes wrong in quiet ways. We found a co-founder title for one startup sitting on a contact record at an unrelated company, and we now drop any title that names a different firm (our data, October 2026). Signals go wrong too: a hiring signal for one company matched a different company with the same name in our data tool (our data, October 2026). At banks, with long titles and many business units, both errors are common.
Use this order:
- Find the unit. Search the bank's newsroom for "stablecoin", "deposit token" and "tokenised deposits".
- Find the presenter. The person who speaks for the unit at conferences or on earnings calls is often the budget owner or reports to them.
- Confirm the title on the bank's own site or a regulatory filing.
- Map the risk roles by function, and plan to reach them through the budget owner.
- At a fintech, find the sponsor bank. It is often named in the fintech's footer or terms.
What does a first message need?
Open with one fact about their plan and one fact about your fit, then ask for 20 minutes. A line such as "Your subsidiary plan needs reserve reporting before January 2027" gives the reader a reason to reply.
Each reviewer asks who else trusts you, so cite one credential they can check. Ours, when we approach fintechs: we led the B2B team that closed the Koinly partnership with Revolut. For the wider institutional playbook, see how crypto infrastructure firms book meetings with institutions.
Decision rule
If the bank has a named digital assets or payments unit with a public launch, sell to its head and send the risk pack in week one. If it has no public unit, sell to transaction banking with a regulatory date and a client case. If the target is a fintech, name its sponsor bank before the first call and prepare for that bank's review.
To map the buying group at your 20 most likely bank and fintech accounts, start with The Diagnostic at $2,500.