ICBA Continues Call for OCC to Ensure Stablecoin Rules Limit Harm to Local Lending

Washington, D.C. (Oct. 21, 2026) - Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) President and CEO Rebeca Romero Rainey issued the following statement on today's Office of the Comptroller of the Currency final rule on payment stablecoin regulations under the GENIUS Act.

"While ICBA continues to review today's GENIUS Act final rule from the OCC, we remain focused on ensuring the agency's policies protect against the risks that payment stablecoins pose to community bank lending, local communities, and financial stability without appropriate regulatory safeguards and robust implementation of Congress' intent to prohibit the payment of yield or interest to payment stablecoin holders.

"With an ICBA economic data analysis showing adoption of payment stablecoins could result in a decline in community bank lending of at least $850 billion in the coming years, ICBA has called on the OCC to minimize the negative impacts of stablecoins on credit to local communities, establish strong consumer-protection and safety-and-soundness guardrails, and place appropriate operational limits on permitted payment stablecoin issuers.

"ICBA will continue working to protect local small businesses, farmers, and consumers from the risks that loosely regulated, yield-bearing payment stablecoins pose to community bank lending capacity."

About ICBA

The Independent Community Bankers of America® has one mission: to create and promote an environment where community banks flourish. We power the potential of the nation's community banks through effective advocacy, education, and innovation.

As local and trusted sources of credit, America's community banks leverage their relationship-based business model and innovative offerings to channel deposits into the neighborhoods they serve, creating jobs, fostering economic prosperity, and fueling their customers' financial goals and dreams. For more information, visit ICBA's website at icba.org.