Launching a FinTech often starts with a simple plan. Get the right state licenses, team up with a bank and start moving money. But success brings a new problem. Once a company adds overseas customers, large business clients or cryptocurrency services, that early setup can start to feel too small.

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That growing pain is the focus of a Thursday (Oct. 22) article by attorneys Bryan Reyhani and Cristofer Kelman of law firm Taft that appeared on Mondaq. FinTechs often hit a turning point when their current licenses and partners no longer fit how the business runs. That can happen when a company wants to hold digital assets for big clients or move money across borders. It can also happen when a company relies too much on one partner bank, or when that bank’s caution keeps blocking new plans.

The warning signs don’t automatically mean a company needs its own bank charter, the article said. A new bank partner, a firm that safely holds assets for clients or another state license may solve the problem. Instead, a FinTech should ask which jobs it should keep handing to partners and which ones it has grown enough to handle on its own.

Hybrid licensing is a mix-and-match approach, according to the article. A company might keep its app in one business unit and run money transfers through a licensed sister company. It could use a bank for customer accounts and hire an outside firm to hold crypto.

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