If it lends like a bank and processes payments like a bank, is it a bank? Maybe not, depending on the outcome of a case pending in the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. In the lawsuit, New York financial-services superintendent Linda Lacewell claims a company can’t be a bank unless it accepts deposits, no matter that it offers other services—consumer loans, credit cards or payment processing—that banks have traditionally offered. This claim is legally and historically wrong, as well as risky. Consumer protection and the safety and soundness of our financial system are at risk if it succeeds.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/fintech-can-come-out-of-the-shadows-11599693184?mod=searchresults&page=1&pos=1