Happy Friday the 13th 😧🐈‍⬛!!!
 
Whew – quite a bit of market research this week so we are going to go at it in rapid fire fashion!  Here is the Uncle Sean Update for 9/13/24:

• 👀 ICYMI….  The OCC, Federal Reserve, and FDIC are holding a joint Ask The Regulators webinar regarding bank-fintech arrangements on Tuesday, 9/24 at 2PM EDT.  
  • The webinar will include a Q&A session. Participants must submit questions in advance via email at [email protected]. Panelists will give priority to questions received by Tuesday, Sept. 17.
    • Might be a good one to sit in on for directional clarity…  Uncle Sean will be there listening intently…

• In a bit of a reprieve related to bank-fintech arrangements…  The OCC, Federal Reserve, and FDIC have extend comment period on request for information on bank-fintech arrangements from Sept 30, 2024 to Oct 30, 2024.

• Setting the stage for our first anticipated rate cut at next week’s FOMC meeting, August CPI headlined at 2.5% YoY slightly below estimate of 2.6% (last month actual was 2.9%); and monthly came in at 0.2% in line with expectations.  Core CPI held at 3.2% (same as last month and in line with expectations) with the monthly read at 0.3% which was slightly higher than estimates of 0.2%.
  • CNBC has a good summary as always.

• Full disclosure – Uncle Sean loves this!!! ❤️  Privacy Lock and DCI have teamed up to offer privacy solutions and open banking compliance to banks across the nation.  1033 Open Banking is coming with compliance and data privacy protection being center stage for FI’s – It’s good to see these companies out front protecting the consumer.  Love it!!!!

• Congratulations to equipifi (BNPL platform for FI’s) for successfully completing their SOC 2 Type 2 audit – nice job!!! 😊🎉

• Embedded finance for the win…  Walmart Marketplace and Parafin team up to provide sellers with working capital through the Walmart Marketplace Capital program for eligible sellers using Parafin’s embedded finance infrastructure platform.  A little bit of digging shows that the business loans are provided by Celtic Bank (but if you subscribe to FedFis FinTech Analytics©, you already knew that – nice plug, right???  LOL!).

• 💥 ZSuite Tech broadens their reach via their announced integration with Jack Henry digital banking platform Banno to provide “a seamless banking experience, and real-time origination of transactions” for JKHY banks.

• Rapid Finance also branches out by announcing their integration with Q2's Digital Banking Platform to provide small business lending solutions, including small business loans, sales-based financing, and business lines of credit.

• Bankwell Financial Group (Nasdaq: BWFG; Bank subsidiary is Bankwell Bank, FDIC 57368, Total Assets $3.1B) selects Lendio's Intelligent Lending platform to provide instant SBA 7(a) loan offers to business loan applicants; as well as Lendio’s digital loan application for non-SBA applicants.

• Galileo continues to push into new ways to fight fraud with the launch of Instant Account Verification (GIVE) and Transaction Risk GScore.

• Mastercard drops some serious coin $$$ this week and boosts their threat intelligence capabilities by acquiring Recorded Future cybersecurity firm for $2.65B.
  • As my friend Robin is fond of saying, “pretty soon that’s gonna add up to some real money!”

• Mercury (business banking platform) makes their first acquisition by acquiring Teal, an infrastructure dev platform for building SMB accounting applications.  Mercury also started offering working capital loans built for ecommerce.

• Regent Bank (FDIC 4160; Total Assets $1.6B) launched a new direct digital bank called Believe Bank.  Believe Bank combines high-yield savings with philanthropy by donating 1% APY of your average balance on a quarterly basis to a nonprofit charity of your choice.

• Alibaba.com partners with Mastercard to Alibaba.com Business Edge Credit Card, a co-branded US credit card powered by Cardless and issued by First Electronic Bank.

• Imprint is making headlines again as Eddie Bauer shifts from private label to co-branded open loop credit card with the new Eddie Bauer World Mastercard powered by Imprint and issued by First Electronic Bank.

• Money, money, money 🤑…  Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) announced they have raised their minimum hourly wage to $24 on their way to $25 per hour by 2025 as part of a campaign that began in 2017.

• MoneyLion (NYSE: ML) announced they have partnered with Nova Credit to activate cash flow underwriting within MoneyLion’s hosted decisioning engine via Nova Credit’s Cash Atlas™ platform.

• Affinity Plus Federal Credit Union (Charter 24362; Total Assets $4.2B) has selected Lumin Digital to enhance and streamline online and mobile banking for the CU.  Nice win for Lumin!

• And of course the news that everyone saw, Wells Fargo hit with new AML Consent Order.  😲

• Some Personnel moves:
  • R&T Deposit Solutions names Kim Liao as Head of Regulatory Affairs.
  • Grasshopper Bank names several key hires to their Digital Banking Team including: Rob Burnett as Director of Startup Banking, Vince Peterson as VP of Embedded Finance, Nate Gruendemann as Product Manager, and Vince Magpayo as SMB/SBA Digital Loan Specialist.
  • Freddie Mac names Diana Reid as CEO.
  • Nium adds some new players in the C-Suite with Andre Mancl as CFO and Phillip Doyle as CCO.
  • ComplyAdvantage (financial crime intelligence platform) hired Paul Kizakevich as CRO.

• Notable FinTech funding for the week:
  • Illuma Labs (voice authentication and fraud prevention technology for FI’s) raised $9M in Series A $9M in Series A funding round.
  • Versana (loan syndication platform) raised $26M in capital.
  • Finally (AI-powered bookkeeping including a corporate card) raised $200M in capital consisting of $50M Series B and a $150M credit line.
  • Every (small business bookkeeping, payroll, treasury, and banking platform) raised $22.5M in Series A round.
  • Push Cash (A2A / Pay-by-Bank platform) raised $4M in Seed round funding.

 
 
Random Uncle Sean stuff:

• Running late this week so I’m just gonna skip to the good stuff…  Here are the Dad / Bad Jokes for the week:
  • I work out almost every day….  For instance, I almost worked out on Tuesday, almost on Wednesday, and almost on Thursday too! 😅
  • Confucius says, “everyone who gets glasses looks better…” 🥸
  • When I get in an elevator with a stranger, I try to hold their hand to make them feel they’re safe with me…  LOL!!! 🤐😂
  • The older I get, the earlier it gets late… 🤷‍♂️
  • Parenting tip….  If your kid asks for a napkin, it’s already too late! 🙄

 
 
Have a GREAT weekend and please stay safe!!!
 
Uncle Sean
 
 
Sometimes known as Sean Mayo – contact me directly for scope and pricing of custom reports / analysis projects at [email protected] | 214-604-6961 – or you can contact FedFis Sales Team at 512-960-0911 | [email protected] #FedFisHasTheData FedFis
 
FedFis, LLC disclaimer – The views and opinions of Uncle Sean are of his own and may not necessarily represent the views, endorsements, and/or opinions of FedFis, LLC – we all know he’s a little bit different; but that’s why we love him.

​Happy Friday!!!
 
For the love of everything that is holy – NO, I do not need the attendee list for Money 20/20 so please quit spamming me 5 times per day LOL!!!  Ah, the joy of conference season. 😂  Here is the Uncle Sean Update for 9/6/24:
 

• 👀 Keep an eye on this (developing) as it could have massive implications to the BaaS / Embedded Finance FBO model… 
  • Evan Weinberger published an article in Bloomberg Law stating the FDIC (in response to the Synapse bankruptcy meltdown) is “expected to release a proposed rule requiring banks to maintain ledgers of ‘for benefit of’ accounts opened by third-party fintechs so the banks can identify how much end-user money they’re holding… Banks would still be able to partner with middleman companies such as Synapse but would be required to have constant access to the third-party ledger and reconcile data each day under the proposal…” 
    • Bloomberg Law source article: FDIC Eyeing Plan to Protect Customers From Fintech Failures
      • My take (not that anyone asked – LOL) is that it appears the regulators are going to eventually demand on-core ledgering even if via sidecar model from regulated legacy core processors which effectively kills the unregulated middleware model entirely.  The bank must own the ledger.

 

• And of course some macroeconomic news to kick off the weekend with the BLS August Jobs Report showing 142K jobs added (estimate was 161K) with coming in at 4.2% as expected (July was 4.3%).
  • Noting that June Jobs report was again revised down by another 61K to 118K (was originally 206K – so a 43% miss from initial estimate 🙄); and July was revised down by 25K to 89K. 
    • Not great, but not a terrible overall report although the significantly material continued downward revisions (source - BLS Revisions 2024) remain a concern.  CNBC has pretty good summary.

 

• The FDIC released their Quarterly Banking Profile report for 2Q2024 as well as the accompanying Remarks by FDIC Chairman Martin Gruenberg.  I’ll admit – nothing really surprised me (especially if you follow the FedFis Inside the Numbers quarterly webinar) and the results for the industry are pretty strong, all things considered.  But I will highlight the following:
  • The number of banks on the FDIC’s “Problem Bank List” (defined as having a composite CAMELS rating of 4 or 5) increased from 63 in 1Q2024 to 66 in 2Q2024 representing 1.5% of all banks which is certainly within the normal range of 1 – 2 percent during non-crisis periods.
    • Warning – here comes the shameless plug (LOL - 🤠)…  For comparison, the FedFis Rating© for 2Q2024 is showing 70 banks in the bottom 1% of all FI’s with a rating of 3.85 or worse based on call report data (Source: FedFis Bank Rating).

 

• Jack Henry (Nasdaq: JKHY) partners with Moov to enable financial institutions to offer enhanced digital payment services to SMB customers.

 

• MidWestOne Bank (FDIC 14843; Total Assets $6.6B) has completed implementation and is now live with Temenos Digital Onboarding for retail depository products.

 

• 💥 Congrats to Rory O'Reilly and the entire Knot Team for a big win this week as American Express and Knot team up to simplify the process of adding payment information at select merchants.  Powered by Knot’s CardSwitcher product, this product allows eligible Amex customers to easily update their payment info at top merchants like Bloomingdale's, Hilton, and Macy's.  Nice work!  👍

 

• HawaiiUSA FCU (charter 1815; Total Assets $2.5B) selects Velera for debit card processing in addition to the already existing relationship with Velera for CC processing.
  • Yessir - Here comes another plug 😊!!!  Wanna know who was displaced as the prior Debit Processor for HawaiiUSA FCU…???  Give Bobby Button a call and ask him about our FI vendor tech stack (the FinTegration Ecosystem©) for every bank and credit union in the US.

 

• 👀 Things were interesting and BUSY in the world of M&A this week (WHEW):
  • Banyan Software announced the acquisition of Automated Systems, Inc. (ASI) core processor with over a dozen additional modules.  Banyan also announced the formation of the Financial Institutions Group where ASI will be joined by Loan Vision in order to foster collaboration while operating independently.
  • Ingo Payments has acquired Deposits Inc. to accelerate “the launch of its Modern Money Stack, which will enable banks, fintechs and brands to transform money flows into full, feature-rich accounts that foster new relationships, revenue streams, and utility, delivered in a modern, modular, compliant and cost-efficient way.”
  • Paylocity (Nasdaq: PCTY) announced a definitive agreement to acquire Airbase for approximately $325M.
  • Ncontracts has acquired Venminder (a unified platform for managing third-party risk related to the entire vendor lifecycle) via a buyout from HG.  As part of a simultaneous transaction, Hg has bought out prior Ncontracts shareholder Gryphon Investors, as well as prior Venminder shareholders.

 

• And even more M&A going on in the Bank space this week:
  • We had another CU acquisition of a bank…  REV FCU (charter 9986; Total Assets $1.135B) to acquire First Neighborhood Bank (FDIC 6800; Total Assets $149M).
    • If you are keeping score, this is now the 15th announced acquisition of a bank by a credit union thus far in 2024 compared to 11 in 2023, 16 in 2022, 13 in 2021, 7 in 2020, and 16 in 2019 (source: FedFis).  With over three months left in 2024, we may indeed set a new record.
  • ICYMI - in an even rarer transaction, we have a bank attempting to acquire a CU 🤯…  The Pittsfield Co-operative Bank (FDIC 26393; Total Assets $378M) is attempting to acquire Arrha Credit Union (Charter 61189; Total Assets $148M ) with the NCUA currently reviewing the application.
    • This deal has been rumored for awhile now with a legal ad soliciting CU member feedback posted in early July; and Arrha’s board approving the deal on July 30.  I believe the NCUA approval is needed before the CU members can vote on the merger – so not necessarily an announced deal with a definitive agreement just yet (please let me know if I am dead wrong on this)…
  • ConnectOne Bancorp (Nasdaq: CNOB) to acquire The First of Long Island Corporation.  Check out the CNOB Investor Deck related to the merger (note the 0.74x P/TBV – Oof!!! 😲 Some significant FV write-down going on)
  • Builtwell Bancorp in TN to acquire Bradley County Financial also in TN.
  • Mutual Federal Bancorp to acquire Pulaski Savings Bank.

 

• Notable FinTech funding for the week:
  • Flex (HSA and FSA payment infrastructure) raised $3.2M Seed Round.
  • Oyster (payroll platform for distributed workforces) raised $59M in Series D funding round.
  • Drip Capital (cross-border trade finance) raised $113M in capital consisting of $23M in equity and $90M in debt financing.
  • Thatch (personalized health benefits platform for businesses and employees incl Visa Debit Card) picks up $38M in Series A round – WOW, that’s a nice sized A-round!
  • Sedric (AI-powered communications monitoring of employees at FIs for compliance enhancement) raised $18.5M in Series A funding round.

 
 
Random Uncle Sean stuff:

• Cooler temps have finally arrived!!!  Rumor has it that we may see lows in the upper 50’s by the end of the weekend here in East Texas – oh yeah!!!
• Also – recall last week where I mentioned that Aunt Patty’s parents were coming to visit and we were probably going to make a trip to Shreveport for some gambling action (her Mom and Dad love those slot machines)….  Well, I must report that no casino’s went bankrupt, or were even hurt at all, during our visit….  In fact, I’m sure they can’t wait for us to come back very soon…  Ugh!!! 😬😆
• And of course some obligatory Dad / Bad Jokes:
  • Ah, the IRONY in spelling…  Hyphenated….  Non-hyphenated… 🤔
  • Sleeping 12 hours a day can reduce your chance of doing something stupid by 50%. 😅
  • My goal was to lose 10 lbs this year…  Only 15 more to go! 🫤
  • Little known fact, but…  T-shirt is actually short for “Tyrannosaurus Shirt”…  Because of the short arms…  🦖🤣😂

 
 
Have a GREAT weekend and please stay safe!!!
 
Uncle Sean
 
 
Sometimes known as Sean Mayo – contact me directly for scope and pricing of custom reports / analysis projects at [email protected] | 214-604-6961 – or you can contact FedFis Sales Team at 512-960-0911 | [email protected] #FedFisHasTheData FedFis
 
FedFis, LLC disclaimer – The views and opinions of Uncle Sean are of his own and may not necessarily represent the views, endorsements, and/or opinions of FedFis, LLC – we all know he’s a little bit different; but that’s why we love him.
 

​Happy Friday!!!
 
Happy Labor Day Weekend!!!! 🤠  It was a fairly light week in the banking and fintech market research space (thankfully – LOL), so let’s jump right in so we can get the long weekend started.  Here is the Uncle Sean Update for 8/30/24:
 

• The BEA July PCE (the Fed’s preferred measure of inflation) report came in very benign and largely as expected at 2.5% over last year and 0.2% over June.  Core PCE came in at 2.6% over last year and 0.2% for the month. 
  • For reference - PCE inflation, month-over-month, July (+0.2% expected, +0.1% previously); PCE inflation, year-over-year, July (+2.6% expected, +2.5% previously); "Core" PCE, month-over-month, July (+0.2% expected, +0.2% previously); "Core" PCE, year-over-year, July (+2.7% expected; +2.6% previously).
  • Next up on the data front is the August Jobs Report from the BLS on next Friday, Sept 6th at 7:30 AM CDT.

 

• Shout out to Q2 (NYSE: QTWO) as they celebrate 20 year anniversary of innovation in the banking industry. 👏 Keep up the good work!!! 😊

 

• Narmi announced it is now live with FedNow® service in receive mode with Grasshopper Bank (FDIC 59113; Total Assets $836M) as the first step in Grasshopper’s instant payments strategy.  Per the PR:
  • Narmi’s seamless integration with FIS’s IBS core via Code Connect platform enabled Grasshopper Bank’s efficient FedNow Service implementation.
  • “Through the FedNow Service, Grasshopper is positioned to provide its On-Core financial technology (fintech) clients with the option to receive payments in real-time, offering enhanced cash flow management, immediate access to funds, and improved operational efficiency. The ability to receive instant payments is particularly crucial for fintechs and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that depend on timely transactions to sustain and grow their operations.”  Nice! 😎

 

• WebBank (FDIC 34404; Total Assets $2.2B) to be the exclusive bank partner for Sezzle BNPL, subscription products, and card products.
  • WebBank is a known powerhouse in the Sponsor Bank arena focusing on the credit / asset side of embedded finance (including cards).  Some key customers include Klarna, Zip, and PayPal among many others.  For more detail – contact Bobby Button in relation to the FedFis FinTech Analytics© database (nice plug if I do say so myself - LOL 😊).

 

• PayPal (Nasdaq: PYPL) expands its global partnership with Fiserv by simplifying how Fiserv (NYSE: FI) “clients enable PayPal, Venmo and related services, and provides these businesses with a simple connection point to Fastlane by PayPal to accelerate guest checkout flows in the U.S.”

 

• Synctera teams up with Marqeta to offer the Synctera Fleet Card for the freight and logistics industries.

 

• Surety Bank (FDIC 33026; Total Assets $206M) selects Apiture for Online and Mobile digital banking upgrade.

 

• CPI Card Group announced a partnership with Rippleshot to provide its AI/ML-based fraud prevention services to CPI customers.

 

• 👀 Interesting to me…  Orlando Credit Union (Charter 68706; Total Assets $358M) launches new merchant services via Fort Point Payments, Inc. ” to help businesses streamline their payment processes and support growth with advanced payment solutions.”
  • Seeing more and more CUs leaning into business / commercial banking services (and my opinion is that this is a large driver for CUs acquiring banks).  Recall a few weeks back where more CU announcements regarding commercial and non-traditional operations:
    • 8/13/24 - Forum Credit Union (Charter 68248; Total Assets $2.1B) selects Apiture Business Banking Solution to deliver online and mobile banking to its commercial members. 
    • 8/14/24 - North Bay Credit Union (Charter 63373; Total Assets $121M) selects Sharetec’s web-based core, Sharetec Velocity for its innovation and Open API platform – presumably for BaaS / embedded finance.

 

• Some personnel moves:
  • Socure promotes Matt Thompson to Chief Revenue Officer (CRO).
  • Taktile hires Jason Mikula as Head of Industry Strategy for Banking & Fintech.  Selfishly, I hope Jason Mikula is still able to commit sufficient time to his Fintech Business Weekly newsletter!!! 😊
  • Payouts Network appoints Jeffery D. Johnson as Chief Revenue Officer.

 

• Notable FinTech funding for the week:
  • Linker Finance (digital banking platform focused on community FI’s) raised $3.7M Seed Round.
  • PrivacyHawk (consumer data protection) $3M in new capital while officially passing “1 million users just 2 years after launching.”
  • Comun (neo immigrant banking app) raised $21.5M in Series A funding round just nine months after their $4.5M raise.
  • Parafin (lending side infrastructure solution for embedded finance) closed a $93M debt facility with potential to increase to $187M.

 
 
Random Uncle Sean stuff:

• Have you seen BLAND.AI (check out the video demo) – voice AI for automated calling operations (can accommodate both outbound and inbound)?  Not sure if I am incredibly impressed, terrified, or all of the above!!!
• Aunt Patty’s Mom and Dad are coming over for the weekend – rumor has it that we may head over to Shreveport for the day on Saturday for some gambling and shenanigans!  Sure hope I don’t have to get a second job when I get back – LOL!!!! 😊
• Okay – let’s crank out some Dad / Bad Jokes so we can get the Holiday Weekend started early:
  • Rolling out of bed is easy…. Getting up off of the floor is another story! 😬
  • Dogs are not allowed in bars because they can’t control their licker… 🐶😂
  • I run like the winded….  😅
  • Not saying I’m old, but “pulling an all-nighter” now means I didn’t have to wake up to go pee.
    • Ah but Confucius says, “it is better to wake up and pee than pee and then wake up…” 🙏

 
 
Have a GREAT Labor Day Holiday weekend and please stay safe!!! ❤️
 
Uncle Sean
 
 
Sometimes known as Sean Mayo – contact me directly for scope and pricing of custom reports / analysis projects at [email protected] | 214-604-6961 – or you can contact FedFis Sales Team at 512-960-0911 | [email protected] #FedFisHasTheData FedFis
 
FedFis, LLC disclaimer – The views and opinions of Uncle Sean are of his own and may not necessarily represent the views, endorsements, and/or opinions of FedFis, LLC – we all know he’s a little bit different; but that’s why we love him.
 

​Happy Friday!!!
 
Don’t forget to sign up here to have the Uncle Sean Update and the FinTech Cowboys interviews delivered straight to your inbox every week!  Here is the Uncle Sean Update for 8/23/24:
 

• I’m not going to lie one bit – my favorite headline of the week goes to two outstanding firms partnering together to the benefit of community banks…  High-five’s all around to the great folks at DCI and RiskScout as they partner together to launch a robust and comprehensive BSA/AML solution with customizable monitoring capabilities 💥 and real-time communication as a more cost effective solution (❤️) for community banks nationwide. 🎉🙌🚀

 

• Jerome Powell’s speech at Jackson Hole today was largely in line with expectations.  A notable (and expected) shift in sentiment from “will they cut rates” to “when and how much will the rate cuts be.”  And of course the statement that you will likely see over and over from all media outlets - “The time has come for policy to adjust. The direction of travel is clear, and the timing and pace of rate cuts will depend on incoming data, the evolving outlook, and the balance of risks.”  😎

 

• Late last Friday, U.S. Eagle FCU (Charter 808; Total Assets $1.5B) to acquire Southwest Capital Bank (FDIC 12258; Total Assets $475M).  Apparently there is a cannabis banking play here as US Eagle has a cannabis banking arm (Aery Group is a division of US Eagle) and Southwest Capital Bank is known to offer cannabis banking solutions. 
  • Keeping score – this is now the 14th announced acquisition of a bank by a credit union thus far in 2024 compared to 11 in 2023, 16 in 2022, 13 in 2021, 7 in 2020, and 16 in 2019 (Source: FedFis)

 

• Paychex (Nasdaq: PAYX) jumps into the fintech / embedded finance space with the launch of Paychex Flex® Perks, a digital employee benefits marketplace, with 17 unique products including “early access to earned wages, financial wellness solutions, and voluntary lifestyle benefits for the employees of Paychex customers.”  Also included is:
  • Paychex Pay, an online account established by Central Bank of Kansas City with a Mastercard Debit Card and Savings Account.
  • EWA powered by Payactiv.
  • Financial Wellness platform powered by FinFit.

 

• Agent IQ announced a partnership with the Bank of Utah (FDIC 17159; Total Assets $3.3B) to launch a new chat solution powered by Agent IQ’s Lynq™ digital engagement platform.  “A key aspect of the partnership with Agent IQ was the seamless integration with Bank of Utah’s Q2 online banking platform for mobile and browser access, as well as the bank’s MANTL account opening tool.”

 

• Stop! Collaborate & listen! (🕺🎵 - LOL)…  Although competitors, Adyen and PayPal continue to collaborate with Adyen to offer Fastlane by PayPal in the US to accelerate online checkout with plans to expand this offering globally in the future.
  • Not only will Adyen customers be able to continue leveraging PayPal’s best-in-class consumer wallets (PayPal, Venmo, BNPL), they can now also access our new Fastlane by PayPal service to accelerate guest checkout flows for their enterprise and marketplace customers in the U.S.  This partnership brings Adyen’s payments infrastructure together with PayPal’s ability to drive accelerated checkout flows for more than 400 million shoppers globally.

 

• Trimont shoots to #1 as the largest US CRE servicer (was previously #10) after Wells Fargo sells most of its CRE loan servicing portfolio (non-agency) to Trimont.  Terms were not disclosed, but Trimont CEO Bill Sexton said his firm would take over servicing for roughly $475 billion worth of loans. That will triple Trimont’s loans under management to over $715 billion.

 

• U.S. Bank (FDIC 6548; Total Assets $665B) was busy this week with some strategic announcements:
  • U.S. Bank acquires healthcare payments platform Salucro Healthcare Solutions who was a partner of Elavon, the merchant acquiring unit within U.S. Bank.  Salucro team members are now employees of U.S. Bank and will integrate into Elavon, allowing the banks Elavon unit to dig deeper into healthcare payments and billing services.
  • U.S. Bank partners with Edward Jones to offer deposit and credit card products to Edward Jones’ U.S. clients beginning in 2025.  “U.S. Bank has had an Edward Jones card-issuing relationship through its Elan division since 2012.”
    • Banking Dive has a good article reminding us that last year, Citi had launched a partnership with Edward Jones for checking and savings services, but Citi disbanded the program within months during its reorg.

 

• Finio (digital lending infrastructure platform) announced a partnership with FreedomRoad Financial (FRF1) to integrate FRF1’s loan origination process with Fino’s digital lending infrastructure platform giving FRF1 “instant access to credit applications submitted by customers and dealers through various online channels.”
  • FreedomRoad Financial is a motorcycle and powersports financing leader and a direct digital bank as a division of Evergreen Bank Group (FDIC 35230; Total Assets $1.5B).

 

• 👀 Other legal / regulatory developments this week:
  • Remember back in April when the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced a rule banning noncompete agreements???  Well, not so fast my friend (in my best Lee Corso voice)!!!  A federal judge in Texas (Judge Ada Brown of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas) has thrown out the government's ban on noncompete agreements on the basis that the FTC does not have the authority to do so.  "The FTC lacks substantive rulemaking authority with respect to unfair methods of competition," she wrote. "The role of an administrative agency is to do as told by Congress, not to do what the agency think[s] it should do.” 😬
    • The FTC is considering an appeal.
  • A group of 11 industry trade groups called for an additional 60 day extension to comment on the FDIC’s recently proposed tightening of Brokered Deposits rule impacting everything from fintech sourced deposits to internet deposits and deposit sweep networks; and the resulting effect on bank liquidity. 
    • But for now, the clock is ticking as the Brokered Deposit Notice of Proposed Rulemaking officially hit the Federal Register today with comments due by 10/22/24. ⌛
  • And here you go….  The CFPB website for their Nonbank Registry (NBR) is up and includes a Filing Instructions Guide as well as Key Dates / Implementation Submission periods.

 

• Notable FinTech funding for the week:
  • Lettuce Financial (tax and accounting platform for solopreneurs) raised $15M in Series A funding round.

 
 
Random Uncle Sean stuff:

• More foodie stuff…  Uncle Sean absolutely LOVES Hatch Chile Peppers🌶️!  Not just the taste, but the embedded offering into so many other products (Hatch Chile Pepper cheese, Hatch tamales, Hatch sausage, etc.) – I love it all!!!  But mostly, it’s the season that I associate with increased happiness and excitement.  Hatch peppers are only available a few months ever year (think McRib – LOL) and begin to hit the grocery stores in late August as they ripen.  In Texas, this is also the beginning of the end of the summer heat (cooler days ahead); the beginning of football; the beginning of Dove Season; and the gateway to fall.  It’s almost like a breath of fresh air or a new beginning after surviving the brutally hot Texas summer – with ample amounts of gatherings of family, friends, and food ahead.  What’s not to love?!?!
  • So you can imagine my excitement when I ran across this article in Food & Wine called What Makes Hatch Chiles So Special – along with some nice recipes.  Some cool points:
    • Hatch chiles come from the Hatch Valley in southern New Mexico, which stretches along the Rio Grande river from Arrey to Rincon. A former floodplain, the Hatch Valley’s nutrient-rich soil and fluctuating temperatures are considered ideal for growing perfect peppers.
    • Developed in the 20th century, horticulturist Fabián García and his students (at what is now New Mexico State University in Las Cruces) used the plants to develop modern New Mexico chiles, featuring a more consistent size and tamer heat.
    • The chiles are planted in April and harvested starting in August through the first frost, usually in November.
• 🏈 This Saturday at 11AM CDT, #10 ranked Florida State takes on Georgia Tech in the college football season’s kickoff game from Dublin. FSU is coming off a 13-1 season that saw it “controversially” left out of last season’s College Football Playoff, but embarrassingly crushed in the Dec 2023 Orange Bowl with a 63-3 “butt-whoopin” by #6 Georgia due to more than two dozen FSU players opting out or transferring…  We’ll see if FSU looks to make statement in the season opener or not...  ESPN College GameDay will be there too beginning at 8AM CDT.
• Oh yeah – here are the Dad / Bad Jokes for the week:
  • Whoever said money can’t buy happiness clearly hasn’t been bonded out of jail before! 😲😂
  • In the spirit of the Paris Olympics….  What do you call a nervous Javelin thrower…?  Shakespear…. 🙄
  • What did the horse say when he fell over?  “Help, I’ve fallen and I can’t giddyup!!!” 🐎🤠
  • What do you get when you cross the Atlantic with the Titanic…???  About halfway… 😧

 
 
Have a GREAT weekend and please stay safe!!!
 
Uncle Sean
 
 
Sometimes known as Sean Mayo – contact me directly for scope and pricing of custom reports / analysis projects at [email protected] | 214-604-6961 – or you can contact FedFis Sales Team at 512-960-0911 | [email protected] #FedFisHasTheData FedFis
 
FedFis, LLC disclaimer – The views and opinions of Uncle Sean are of his own and may not necessarily represent the views, endorsements, and/or opinions of FedFis, LLC – we all know he’s a little bit different; but that’s why we love him.
 

Happy Friday!!!
 
Remember last week when the stock market completely threw up – yeah, me neither! 🤷‍♂️🤠  Here is the Uncle Sean Update for 8/16/24:
 

• Cracking the 3% psychological barrier - 👍 July CPI came in pretty much as expected with headline YoY at 2.9% (estimate was 3.0%; last month was 3.0%) which is the smallest 12-month increase since March 2021.  The monthly read came in at 0.2% exactly matching expectations.  Core CPI was 3.2% (also the lowest reading in three years) versus 3.3% in June. 
  • CNBC has a good summary emphasizing that shelter overweight increases are still a drag (and a lagging drag due to their slow pace of change) on CPI.  Excluding shelter, CPI only rose 1.7%.
    • Looking ahead on the calendar…  Next week brings the Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium from August 22-24.  The week after that brings Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index (PCE is the Fed’s preferred measure of inflation) on August 30th.  Then comes the monthly jobs report and unemployment summary on September 6.  And then we wrap up “rate cut watch 2024” (LOL) with the next FOMC meeting on September 17-18 which will include Summary of Economic Projections (SEP – “dot plot” for us old folks).
      • Oh yeah – don’t forget that Labor Day is in there somewhere too! 😊

 

• 👀 FIS (NYCE: FIS) teams up with Neural Payments to simplify peer-to-peer (P2P) payments via a white-labeled open-loop solution allowing for seamless P2P transactions (regardless of whether the recipient’s institution utilizes Neural Payments and without the need to download a third-party app or register a new card) embedded within the institutions mobile banking app.
  • An Uncle Sean fist-bump 👊 to the Neural Payments Team – well done!!!

 

• Mastercard debuts enhancements to its Open Banking for Lending program powered by employment / income verifier Argyle (credentialed payroll service); making it easier for financial institutions to digitally verify an applicant’s income and employment via user permissions. 

 

• Klarna (BNPL) announced everyday spending and saving features launching in 12 countries across Europe and the US.
  • Klarna balance allows consumers to store money in a Klarna ‘account’, adding money directly from their bank account, receiving cashback rewards for shopping in the Klarna app, or receiving refunds from returned items.
  • Cashback rewards consumers who shop in the Klarna app. Shoppers earn a percentage of purchases at participating retailers, and the money is stored in their Klarna ‘balance’ account.
    • However, per this Banking Dive article, it looks like the Klarna Account will not be FDIC insured (similar to Venmo) – at least not at first.  Really more designed as “a vehicle for consumers to receive cashback and get their refunds faster” and not anticipating US customers to hold large amounts.

 

• Zip (BNPL) announces partnership with Stripe in the US where eligible merchants can easily enable Zip as a payment method with a single click at checkout (point-of-sale credit).

 

• More BNPL as Affirm (Nasdaq: AFRM) expands its partnership with Tekmetric (automotive repair shop management solution with payments powered by Stripe Connect) to bring flexible payment options at checkout to the thousands of auto repair shops that use Tekmetric’s platform.

 

• LendingPoint partners with FairPlay to utilize FairPlay’s Fairness-as-a-Service solution to enhance LendingPoint’s algorithmic qualification and automated funding decisions.

 

• Finzly announced an agreement with Corpay (NYSE: CPAY) to collaborate on a joint offering that brings together Finzly’s FX payment platform and Corpay’s real-time FX rates for financial institutions and their business clients.

 

• Pibank (direct digital bank solution for Intercredit Bank) launches in the US with a high-yield savings account sporting 5.5% - WOWZA! 😲
  • This is an interesting structure as Pibank already operates as a direct bank in Spain and Columbia via Banco Pichincha Holding Group.  Dr. Fidel Egas Grijalva is the majority owner of Banco Pichincha Holding Group; and he purchased (as an individual) Intercredit Bank (FDIC 25258) in 2020 per the Intercredit website; “Intercredit Bank is not part of the Banco Pichincha Holding Group and is separately managed and regulated.”
    • Thinking out loud here (“over-thinking” actually – LOL)…  I could be dead wrong, but since Pibank already exists internationally – It looks like Intercredit Bank simply purchased the brand rights to operate Pibank in the US….  My weird brain keeps thinking of this as the first example of a franchised direct digital bank specific to the US.  Very interesting! 😊

 

• Modern Treasury flexes this week by announced it has expanded instant payments support for mutual customers of six leading banks - Bank of America, Cross River, JPMorgan Chase, PNC Financial Services, U.S. Bank and Wells Fargo.

 

• Centime (holistic cash management platform for SMB’s) introduced a new AP solution that pays you to automate your business AP process by providing a high-yield account currently at 4.25% APY.  The press release states that on average, clients earn enough to cover the cost of automation and more.  Cha-Ching!!!

 

• All kinds of M&A going on this week:
  • Experian acquires behavioral analytics platform NeuroID.
  • Chang in Control – KeyCorp (NYSE: KEY) announced an agreement where The Bank of Nova Scotia will make a strategic minority investment in KeyCorp of approximately $2.8B representing 14.9% pro forma common stock ownership (upon approval by the Federal Reserve).
  • UFS to acquire Safe Systems.  “UFS’ acquisition of Safe Systems is a game-changer for community banks across the country,” said Dave Mayo, Founder of Bankers Helping Bankers and CEO and Founder of FedFis. “This is a strategic move that will both elevate and broaden the quality of solutions and services available. Talk about perfect timing, this enables Bankers to better serve their customers. By combining their expertise and resources, these two companies are positioned to deliver unmatched support to the industry.” 
    • Hey – I know that guy!!!! 🤠
  • Ceto acquires VPCtech strengthening their position in the area of Fiserv/DNA platform transformations.
  • 👀 And lastly – another CU acquiring a bank.  This week it is Spokane Teacher’s Credit Union (Charter 68203; Total Assets $5.9B) announced an agreement to acquire Community Bank (FDIC 17445; Total Assets $549M) in Joseph, OR.
    • If you are keeping score, the count is now up to 13 announced acquisitions of a bank by a credit union thus far in 2024 compared to 11 in 2023, 16 in 2022, 13 in 2021, 7 in 2020, and 16 in 2019 (source: FedFis).

 

• A couple of more CU headlines:
  • Forum Credit Union (Charter 68248; Total Assets $2.1B) selects Apiture Business Banking Solution to deliver online and mobile banking to its commercial members.  
    • Somewhat unique to see a CU highlight a specific digital business banking solution.
  • North Bay Credit Union (Charter 63373; Total Assets $121M) selects Sharetec’s web-based core, Sharetec Velocity for its innovation and Open API platform.

 

• Tally (cc debt refinancing) is unfortunately shutting down.  Tough blow – Despite raising more than $172M (most recent $80M Series D was in Oct 2022) with a peak valuation of $855M and 183 employees, they were not able to secure further funding to continue operations.

 

• Some personnel moves:
  • Robinhood announced Jeff Pinner as Chief Technology Officer.
  • LendingPoint names Shawn Stone as Chief Executive Officer.
  • Plinqit promotes Kirsten Longnecker to Chief Marketing Officer.

 

• FinTech funding for the week:
  • PayZen (healthcare financing) raised $232M in Capital consisting of $32M in Series B plus a new $200M credit warehouse.
  • Setpoint (infrastructure for the credit industry) raised $31B in Series B funding round.
  • Amount (small business digital loan origination and decisioning platform for banks and CUs) raised $30M in Equity Capital.

 
 
Random Uncle Sean stuff:

• Well, 💩…  Odds are your personal data has probably been leaked according to this Los Angeles Times article stating the hacking group USDoD claimed in April to have stolen personal records of 2.9 billion people from National Public Data, which offers personal information to employers, private investigators, staffing agencies and others doing background checks.  The breach, which includes Social Security numbers and other sensitive data, could power a raft of identity theft, fraud and other crimes, said Teresa Murray, consumer watchdog director for the U.S. Public Interest Research Group.
• Okay – on to more happy news!!!  🏈 It’s here – College Football is here (almost anyway)!!!!! 😀  Take a peak at the AP Top 25 that has Georgia, Ohio State, Oregon, Texas, and Alabama rounding up the top 5 with some wild matchups as season openers including:
  • #1 Georgia vs #14 Clemson on 8/31
  • #7 Notre Dame vs #20 Texas A&M on 8/31
  • #13 LSU vs #23 USC on 9/1
• And of course some Dad / Bad Jokes to kick off the weekend right:
  • Do people who run marathons know they don’t have to??? 🏃‍♂️
  • I graduated first in my class…  The fact that I was homeschooled is not important. 👨‍🎓🙃
  • The thing about having a teenager in the house is…  Hey – what happened to all of our silverware and bowls??? 🤔
  • I asked Aunt Patty how they make Holy Water…  She said you just boil the hell out of it… 😬😂

 
 
Have a GREAT weekend and please stay safe!!!
 
Uncle Sean
 
 
Sometimes known as Sean Mayo – contact me directly for scope and pricing of custom reports / analysis projects at [email protected] | 214-604-6961 – or you can contact FedFis Sales Team at 512-960-0911 | [email protected] #FedFisHasTheData FedFis
 
FedFis, LLC disclaimer – The views and opinions of Uncle Sean are of his own and may not necessarily represent the views, endorsements, and/or opinions of FedFis, LLC – we all know he’s a little bit different; but that’s why we love him.
 

Happy Friday!!!
 
Here is the Uncle Sean Update for 8/9/24:
 
Uncle Sean typically tries to emphasize happy stories and headlines, but this week I unfortunately kick off with a bit of an “off the rails” rant.  It gives me no pleasure, so please excuse my bluntness…
 

• Unit (BaaS Platform provider) sets up new embedded finance partnerships with Vantage Bank and Lincoln Savings Bank…  I confess that I do not know precisely what services are being delivered to those banks, but the Unit Blog related to Lincoln Savings Bank as well as the Blog related to Vantage Bank still sounds like the same old BaaS Middleware model (an off-core ledger and FBO structure to the IDI) with Vantage Bank describing it as an “embedded finance accelerator”…
  • In some of my research, I did find that Novel (an international business banking app) was originally under Blue Ridge Bank but transitioned to Five Star Bank per this Novel Business Deposit Account Agreement as of January 2024.  Worth noting that Unit is a third-party service provider and Program Partner to the Five Star account as noted on page 5.  The current CEO of Lincoln Savings Bank came from Five Star Bank which is where the Unit connection (pardon the pun) for LSB may have started.
    • Worth noting that Novel may have recently shut down rather abruptly as the website trynovel.com is giving a 404 error; and some pretty awful recent reviews on Trustpilot within the last 30 days or so…  Not really the best look…
  • Compliance….  Credit Jason Mikula and this Fintech Business Weekly post regarding Unit back in March questioning Unit’s “shift” to a direct type model.  I do see that Unit has recently been trying to reposition themselves as a more compliance-first based model, but a quick look at some current and past Unit customers show compliance has definitely been an issue per these public consent orders, including:
    • Blue Ridge Bank OCC Enforcement Action 2022 (I reference as the O.G Agreement that started it all) citing unsafe or unsound practices, including those relating to third-party risk management, BSA/AML, suspicious activity reporting, and information technology control and risk governance.
    • Choice Bank FDIC Consent Order 2023 citing BSA, AML, CFT, and third-party relationships
    • Piermont Bank 2024 Consent Order citing BSA, AML, CFT, and Third-Party Relationships
    • Thread Bank 2024 Consent Order citing AML/CFT – and getting very specific here as I think this is the first time the FDIC has used the actual terminology “Banking-as-a-Service” as a standalone section (separate from the traditional AML and third-party risk verbiage) in the consent order (bottom of page 6 if you download the order)…  Also reference Section 14.l (page 7) which instructs the bank to “develop and maintain an exit plan” for its FinTech relationships (something that The BaaS Association has been preaching for many years).
  • Financial Condition…  Unit raised $100M in Series C just 2 years ago in May 2022; and this follows a $51M Series B a year before that in June 2021 (bringing total equity raise to nearly $170M per this TechCrunch article).  However, in June 2024 they had to lay off 15% of their staff per their blog.
    • While I do not have direct visibility to the Unit financial statements, I can generally state that most of the time entities are not continuing to raise equity capital (dilution) if they are cash flow positive and profitable (excluding M&A strategy).  Which brings me to my next and last point:
      • Oct 2023 Joint Regulatory Guidance (FDIC, OCC, Fed Reserve) for Conducting Due Diligence on Financial Technology Companies, specifically pg 6, Financial Condition and pg 8, Legal and Regulatory Compliance.
  • Feel free to comment on my LinkedIn post (FedFis page - Uncle Sean Update) or you can email me direct at [email protected].

 
Okay, back to better things! 🤠

• Wow – what a weird week in bond and equity market reactions to relatively small pieces of economic data estimates / misses since last Friday 🤷‍♂️.  Hang on to your hat though, as we have July CPI data coming up next week on 8/14/24 😬; as well as the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium on 8/22 /24– 8/24/24.  So, what is Uncle Sean looking at these days???  Well, I’m glad you asked so I can completely geek out!!!! 🤓🤪
  • Driving the domestic macroeconomic picture recently is downward pressures (albeit somewhat slight) from the labor side include unemployment inching up and job growth slowing (covered this last week); in conjunction with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York 2Q Quarterly Report in Household Debt and Credit released this week showing consistent growth in household debt with the delinquency trajectory continuing to increase, but more of a “normalization” (2019 pre-pandemic was at 20+ yr lows).  Happy to see these FRB NY graphics going back to 2003 to reflect that performance trend. 😊  Hopefully delinquencies and jobs data begins to level off here but I am certainly watching this trend closely.
  • Also keep in mind that it is hard to look at Household Debt without looking at Household Net Worth (Z1 data) which has increased 248% over the same 21 year period of 1Q2003 – 1Q2024 (source: Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis FRED) reminding us that all things are relative.
    • 👀 And hey – here’s some more good news in the data – As of the 8/8 reporting week, the national average for 30-yr mortgage rate fell to 6.47% (Source: Freddie Mac).  That is the lowest rate since the 5/18/23 reporting week. Recall that was the beginning of the rise to almost 8% in Oct 2023 (I know first-hand because Aunt Patty and I had to take a huge 3-2-1 rate buy down when I sold my house in Nov 2023 – ouch, LOL)…
      • Mortgage rates are typically tied to the 10 Year Treasury that went from 3.46% to 4.92% in that same May 2023 – Oct 2023 time period.  This morning, the 10Yr is trading at about 3.95%...
      • Also worth noting the 2Yr/10Yr Spread is -0.08% this morning which is ridiculously close to un-inverting (is that an actual word) and is in some of the tightest trading ranges since we inverted 25 months ago back in early July 2022 with no recession yet (yet being the operative word!).
        • Of course no one asked 😝, but here is my take -  we should probably expect to see more “mixed data results” going forward as this is likely the best scenario for the coveted soft landing.  Fingers still crossed! 🤞

 

• 💥 REDi announced an integration with Q2's Digital Banking Platform allowing community banks and credit unions to access REDi’s fraud tools (customer notification and card control) via Q2's Digital Banking Platform.  Nice work!!!!!

 

• More good news with good folks doing great things…  Check out Atomic making headlines again with some really big wins lately.  This week, Texans Credit Union (Charter 60806; Total Assets $2.2B) announced the launch of Atomic's direct deposit switching solution in partnership with Alkami Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALKT) digital banking solution. 🚀

 

• Conversely in a bit of sad news, Native American focused Totem is set to close down.  Uncle Sean has no doubt that we have not heard the last of Amber Buker, J.D., and I applaud her efforts in bringing much needed attention to improving financial wellness and banking access to Native Americans nationwide. 🙏

 

• It’s no big secret that the big banks have been investigated by various regulatory bodies and government officials regarding Zelle P2P scams and customer complaints (Cash App and Venmo included in some of these probes as well)…  However, JPMorgan kicked things up a notch this week by stating they may sue the CFPB if the agency issues an enforcement action against the bank over abuse of Zelle transfers by scammers.
  • “The CFPB is fully aware we already go above and beyond what the law requires, reimbursing for all unauthorized transactions and even for certain types of scams, so they should expect to be challenged to ensure their actions stay within the bounds of the law,” a JPMorgan spokesperson told Reuters and American Banker on Friday. “If necessary, we will not hesitate to seek assistance from courts to uphold the integrity of how these services are provided.”  The CFPB declined to comment.

 

• Marqeta (Nasdaq: MQ) announced a five-year deal with Varo Bank (FDIC 59190; Total Assets $480M) to be their exclusive issuer processor in the US.

 

• NCR’s digital banking business, named NCR Voyix (NYSE: VYX) after the company spun off the digital banking (Voyix) and ATM business (Atleos) as separate companies late in 2023, sold to Veritas Capital for $2.45B in cash plus additional contingent consideration of up to $100M.  Deal is expected to close (pending regulatory approvals) by year end.

 

• Speaking of NCR (the ATM side this time)…  Chime has expanded its relationship with NCR Atleos (NYSE: NATL).  Chime currently uses ATMs within Atleos’ Allpoint Network at more than 50,000 fee-free ATM’s.  This expanded agreement, beginning in August, will begin branding Atleos ATMs at 4,000 Walgreens stores with the award-winning Chime brand across the country.

 

• BMG Money has partnered with WebBank to launch LoansAtWork, a flexible employment-based loan option for consumers irrespective of their credit scores with repayments automatically deducted from their wages.

 

• Finzly logs a big win by announcing a partnership with United Community (NASDAQ: UCBI; FDIC16889; Total Assets $27B) to provide Finzly’s FX platform enhancing United’s international banking capabilities for its commercial clients.

 

• The CFPB takes action against Credit Repair Cloud AND its CEO, Daniel A. Rosen (so much for the corporate veil) “for providing substantial assistance or support to credit repair businesses that charge illegal advance fees to consumers. The proposed order, if entered by the court, would impose a $2 million civil penalty against Rosen and a $1 million civil penalty against Credit Repair Cloud.”  Yikes!!!!

 

• Some Personnel moves this week:
  • R&T Deposit Solutions strengthens C-Suite with Michelle Barone Named Chief Revenue Officer and Joe Carroll Named Chief Operating Officer.

 

• Notable FinTech funding for the week:
  • Savvy Wealth (AI-powered wealth management platform for financial advisors) raised $15.5M in Series A extension bringing the total Series A to $26.5M.
  • Octane (financing in the powersports market including a digital dealer platform) raised $50M in Series E funding round.

 
 
Random Uncle Sean stuff:

• One of the funnier comments I read this week:  “After coasting for months, the stock market is looking as queasy as a triathlete after swimming in the Seine.” 🤢😂
• Shoutout to my friends at Longview ISD celebrating Educators, Paraprofessionals, Administrative professionals, and the entire support staff (but especially Payroll – “Whoop Whoop”, Business Office Operations, and Human Resources because Uncle Sean is biased 😊) as Longview ISD wraps up Convocation to kick off the school year!!!! ❤️👨‍🎓🙏  Go Lobo’s!!!! 🐺
• Foodie update….  I grilled Lamb Loin Chops this week for the first time ever and those tiny little t-bone looking portions were AMAZING!!!!  Super quick (about 4 minutes each side for medium rare – flip only once) and pretty affordable.  I think I paid just north of $7 for about 1.25 pounds (about 6 little t-bones).  Here is the recipe that I used:
  • Your base is 1/3 cup Avocado Oil (substitute Olive Oil if you like) with 1/2 cup Balsamic Vinegar and 1 TBSP Rosemary Garlic.
  • I also added 1 TBSP Ground Ginger, 1 TBSP Minced Garlic, 1 tsp Uncle Chris steak seasoning, 1/2 tsp ground black pepper.
    • Set aside about 4 – 6 TBSP of this marinade for basting after you flip them on the grill.  Marinate the loin chops in the fridge for about 3-4 hours before cooking.
    • After cooking, I wrapped mine up in some foil and let them rest for about 5 minutes before absolutely devouring them like a starving caveman!  Nom, nom, nom… 😊
• Yep…  You made it!  Here are the Dad / Bad Jokes for the week:
  • Uncle Sean is on the Snake Diet…  That’s where you lay around all day, eat 25% of your body weight, and hiss at anyone that comes near you! 🐍🤪
  • A lot of spouses complain that their husbands never listen to them….  I’m proud to say I’ve never heard  Aunt Patty say that… 😯😂
  • That one time I asked Mom if I was ugly and she said “I told you not to call me Mom when we are in public!” 🤣
  • You’ve heard that saying that if you love something, let it go.  If it comes back to you it is yours, if not then it never was….  Well, just FYI – that doesn’t work very well with money!

 
 
Have a GREAT weekend and please stay safe!!!
 
Uncle Sean
 
 
Sometimes known as Sean Mayo – contact me directly for scope and pricing of custom reports / analysis projects at [email protected] | 214-604-6961 – or you can contact FedFis Sales Team at 512-960-0911 | [email protected] #FedFisHasTheData FedFis
 
FedFis, LLC disclaimer – The views and opinions of Uncle Sean are of his own and may not necessarily represent the views, endorsements, and/or opinions of FedFis, LLC – we all know he’s a little bit different; but that’s why we love him.
 

​Happy Friday!!!
 
FinTech | Banking | Data – it’s what we do!!!  Here is the Uncle Sean Update for 8/2/24:
 
Whew – there is a lot happening in macroeconomic news (and you know how Uncle Sean likes to geek out on that 🤓) – so let’s take a look at what transpired this week:
 

• It’s Fed Week!!!  Again no surprises as the FOMC held rates steady to maintain their restrictive policy at 5.25% - 5.5% (since July 2023); and continue to reduce securities holdings (QT) at $60B per month balance sheet reduction (versus $95B prior to June – aka QT Taper) in Treasury securities rolling off as they mature.  CNBC has a good summary as always.
  • Certainly worth noting the tone was definitely looking forward towards easing; and an interest rate cut could come “as soon as the next meeting” in September.  Uncle Sean is paraphrasing, but a couple of key takeaways from Chairman Jerome Powell’s press conference:
    • Normalization of the labor market continues (unemployment, wages, participation, etc.); and inflationary data continues to come in favorable. 
    • We are getting closer to the point at which we will need to dial back restriction, but we need to see more data…
    • FOMC is well positioned to respond to weakness with policy rates at 5.3%, but the data at this point is not signaling a significantly weakening economy (look at PDFP at 2.6%).
  • More details if you want it… Here is the Press Conference Transcript (24 pages), and here is the Press Conference video (47 minutes 36 seconds).
    • Okay – one last item 😊…  At about 31 minutes into the press conference video (and page 16 of the transcript), Chairman Powell states that post-pandemic learning era has been one where so many economic rules have been flouted like the inverted yield curve for starters…  This is something my colleague Rick Boals and I have been discussing pretty much on a weekly basis for a couple of years now.  Queue up the Jobs report… 😊

 

• A few days later…  The BLS dropped the July Jobs Report showing the economy added 114,000 jobs last month (estimate was 185K) with unemployment inching up to 4.3% from 4.1% (while still historically low, unemployment is up 0.6% since the beginning of the year).  Reuters is reporting that Hurricane Beryl (which knocked out power in Texas and Louisiana during the payrolls survey week) likely contributed to the below-expectations payrolls gain – although the BLS report specifically states that “Hurricane Beryl had no discernible effect” on the data for July. 🤷‍♂️
  • 👨‍🎓 Nonetheless, downward revisions continue to be the norm (source - https://www.bls.gov/web/empsit/cesnaicsrev.htm#2023; after all, this is survey data with three standard revisions after original announcement) as:
    • June was revised down to 179K from 206K as reported (a 13% miss)
    • May was revised down to 216K from 272K as reported (a 21% miss)
    • April was revised down to 108K from 175K as reported (a 38% miss)
    • March was actually revised up to 310K from 303K as reported (up 2%)
    • February was revised down to 236K from 275K as reported (a 14% miss)
    • And January was revised down to 256K from 353K as reported (a 27% miss)
      • Remember the June FOMC press conference…  You know…  The one where Chairman Powell stated (in reference to jobs created), “there’s an argument that they may be a bit overstated…”  I’ll help you – it’s on page 9 of the June transcript. 😊  Emphasis here is not to place too much weight on any one survey report (also referenced on page 9).  But the undeniable trend is to downwardly revise, so this July jobs report could actually get worse.
  • Bond and equity markets literally threw up 🤮 after the July report with some of the greatest movements coming from treasury yields plummeting:
    • 2 yr intraday was at 3.87% versus 4.38% only a week ago – a HUGE 12% downward movement in one week (source: https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/US2Y)
    • 10 yr intraday was at 3.81% versus 4.19% a week ago – down 9% in a matter of days…  (source: https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/US10Y)
    • 💥👀 2yr/10yr spread is now at its narrowest at -0.09% since it inverted in July 2022 (source: https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/10Y2YS) – WOW!!!!!
  • 🤔 My opinion (not that anyone asked - LOL) is that this is still a positive jobs report in that we added jobs, but the window for a soft landing is beginning to narrow.  Couple this with election uncertainty, deficit spending / fiscal policy, and continued / escalating geopolitical concerns continue to add fuel to jittery financial markets.  We will just have to wait and see how this plays out the rest of the year.  Fingers crossed 🤞!!!  Guessing that bad news actually means bad news now (sarcastic humor attempt)… 🤠

 
Okay – back to the rest of the headlines!!!!
 

• CSI launches their expanded Developer Portal making it easier for community bank partnerships and fintech integrations.  “In addition to a growing list of integrated fintechs and integrators, CSI community banks and developers now have access to new documentation methods, resources and standardizations that simplify the implementation process and accelerate time to value.” 

 

• Vantage Bank Texas (FDIC 3405; Total Assets $4.4B) partners with Cable for regulatory compliance, risk management, and scalable growth in the banks embedded banking / fintech program.  Nice!!! 😊
  • Check out Cable here - https://cable.tech/

 

• TransPecos Banks (FDIC 11178; Total Assets $837M) selects Oscilar’s AI-Powered AML Risk Platform to capitalize on growth opportunities in TransPecos Banks’ fintech programs while ensuring robust regulatory compliance for BaaS.  Per the press release, the implementation of Oscilar’s platform is expected to deliver $3M in annual cost savings (WHOA!!!) to the bank by reducing the cost of AML Operations, reducing Alert Review & Case Investigation, and reducing SAR Management.
  • Check out Oscilar here - https://oscilar.com/

 

• 👀 Well, well, well….  Fifth Third Bank (FDIC 6672; Total Assets $212B) announced that Newline™ by Fifth Third, a leading embedded payments provider, will  power Stripe's embedded financial services for Stripe’s platform users and their customers.
  • Not 100% sure if this is a move completely away from Evolve Bank & Trust or a simple matter of vendor diversification strategy of having two sponsor banks.  Time will tell…
    • Anyone else recall last year when Fifth Third acquired the BaaS platform Rize, an embedded payments platform – wink, wink 😉???

 

• It’s been a minute since 1033 has grabbed headlines…  Plaid announced 1033 and open banking solution to help data providers and recipients prepare for new compliance obligations related to open banking via their Open Finance Solution that includes:
  • Core Exchange - Enables FI’s to build open banking API’s themselves
  • Permissions Manager - Provides a permissions manager to allow FI’s to see where customer accounts are connected
  • App Directory - Dashboard with insights about the thousands of apps on Plaid’s network

 

• BankBound announces partnership with Narmi to accelerate deposit growth for FI’s via online account opening.

 

• Northeast Bank (FDIC 16659; Total Assets $743M) partners with Corserv to launch a comprehensive credit card program for their business and commercial customers.

 

• Educators CU (Charter 66448; Total Assets $3.37B) adds BNPL to its suite of digital banking services by partnering with equipifi.
  • Check out equipifi’s blog this week where they highlight their equipifi BNPL 2.0 integrated with the FI’s existing online app enabling pre-purchase BNPL loan as well as post purchase ability to split into installments with funds deposited back into the end user account.

 

• Addition Financial CU (Charter 78773; Total Assets $2.94B) partnered with Lumin Digital to launch a new cloud-based digital banking platform for its members; as well as a dedicated experience for business members.

 

• Highland Bank (FDIC 16111, Total Assets $760M) partnered with MANTL to overhaul its account opening process and deposit onboarding experience for their business and consumer customers.  Includes automation of “over 90% of application decisions, including KYC, AML, BSA, product service ordering, funding, and core booking, to create efficiencies and keep manual processes to a minimum.”

 

• Monzo launches interest on Savings Jars in the US (via Sutton Bank as Sponsor Bank) with rates up to 4.25% with qualifying direct deposit and no fees.

 

• Personnel moves:
  • LoanPro announced Chris Trujillo has joined their executive team as General Counsel.
  • Melio named Nicholas Passarelli as Chief Compliance Officer.

 

• Notable FinTech funding for the week:
  • Monto (AI connector designed for any ERP, enabling B2B AR teams to seamlessly receive payments from any AP portal) raised $9M in Seed round funding.
  • Bilt Rewards (loyalty and rewards platform) raised $150M in capital citing a 50% increase in platform spend since their last funding round in January.

 
 
Random Uncle Sean stuff:

• Prisoner swap…  Welcome home 🙏 Evan Gershkovich (32 year old Wall Street Journal reporter), Paul Whelan (54 year old former US Marine), and Alsu Kurmasheva (47 year old Russian-American journalist).  AP coverage here.
• 🏈 Big changes to NFL rules this season for kickoffs to encourage more returns and make them safer.  Oh yeah, in case you missed it – the NFL kicked off the 2024 preseason (see what I did there) with a look at the new kickoff formation in action - it’s going to take a little getting used to.
• Apologies for not crediting the source here (I simply forgot where I saw this), but the point is sound and funny…  Before we celebrate Artificial Intelligence too much, perhaps we should focus on improving actual human intelligence first. 😏
• Okay – let’s get to the good stuff…  The Dad / Bad Jokes:
  • Spies wear sneakers… 🙄👟
  • When using the self-checkout, do I get the employee discount???
  • Listen pal – I’ve got to see the taco’s first, then I’ll get in the van…  I’m not stupid!!! 🤪🌮
  • PSA…  If you see a toilet in your dream, DO NOT USE IT!!!! 😲😬
  • Aunt Patty said she doesn’t really like math all that much…  Also Aunt Patty - If I cut my shower to 3 minutes and breakfast to 5, I can hit the 9-minute snooze 3 more times and only be 5 minutes late without breaking the speed limit providing at least 1 of the 3 traffic lights are green…. 😂🤣❤️

 
 
Have a GREAT weekend and please stay safe!!!
 
Uncle Sean
 
 
Sometimes known as Sean Mayo – contact me directly for scope and pricing of custom reports / analysis projects at [email protected] | 214-604-6961 – or you can contact FedFis Sales Team at 512-960-0911 | [email protected] #FedFisHasTheData FedFis
 
FedFis, LLC disclaimer – The views and opinions of Uncle Sean are of his own and may not necessarily represent the views, endorsements, and/or opinions of FedFis, LLC – we all know he’s a little bit different; but that’s why we love him.
 

​Happy Friday!!!
 
Wow – another very exciting week with so much to cover!!!  Here is the Uncle Sean Update for 7/26/24:
 

• Right off the bat we give a big high-five to North Bay Credit Union as the latest innovative institution to join the BaaS Association with the goal of responsible innovation in a safe and sound manner to the benefit and protection of the end consumer.  BooYah!!! 😊

 

• 💥 Speaking of BaaS (and for those seeking additional detail on TPRM)…..  The Federal Reserve, FDIC, and OCC issued joint guidance this week.  The first is a reminder of the risks associated with Banks’ Arrangements with Third Parties to Deliver Bank Deposit Products and Services (only 11 pages, 3 of which are footnotes and citations) – highlighting examples of risk management practices by banks to manage such risks (emphasizing existing guidance).  The second is Request for Information on Bank-Fintech Arrangements Involving Banking Products and Services Distributed to Consumers and Businesses (32 pages with detailed questions for the RFI beginning at the end of page 25).  My quick takeaway (not that anyone asked 😊):
  • Both of these docs are easy and quick reads.  Check them out.
  • If you were of the opinion that regulators were far behind related to knowledge of BaaS operations, I can assure you they are pretty well versed now.
  • These documents (in my opinion) certainly appear to be written in the blood of Synapse and Evolve Bank & Trust.  While they do not mention the companies specifically (of course), they are zeroed in on “intermediate platform provider” as a differentiator to the broader all-inclusive term of middleware – also referencing the connector model / intermediate platform provider as “aggregation layer.” 🎯

 

• Of course you know that Uncle Sean can’t pass up an opportunity to talk about macroeconomics – so pardon me while I completely geek out! 🤓  This week the BEA released the Advanced Estimate of real GDP of 2.8% for 2Q, up from 1.4% in 1Q.  Don’t get too excited yet as this is the early advanced estimate (there are always 3 versions of GDP released for the quarter, each a month apart – Advanced, Second Release, and Final).  However, this advanced release is important as some of the last economic data before the FOMC meeting next week, where most estimates are the Fed holding rates steady in July, with cuts likely in Sept.
  • That same report shows PCE (the Fed’s preferred inflation metric) declining to 2.6% for 2Q, down from 3.4% in 1Q;  with Core PCE coming in at 2.9%, down from 3.7% in 1Q.  CNBC has a good summary as always.
    • Some more interesting info regarding treasury rates from a supply & demand standpoint….  Reuters is reporting that the U.S. Treasury Department is likely to announce early next week that it keep most auction sizes steady over the coming quarter, offering the bond market some relief after recent large increases.  However, additional expansions are expected down the road as fiscal trajectory worsens. 
      • 😉 Keep that in your securities / interest rate management playbook…

 

• Hey – check out our friends at Atomic as they continue to CRUSH it 🚀!!!  This week Atomic announced their collaboration with Fifth Third Bank (NASDAQ: FITB; $26B Total Assets) to leverage Atomic’s cutting edge Deposit (switch) solution within its Fifth Third Momentum Banking® products and mobile app. Very nice!!!

 

• 👀 And more cool products….  Set to launch in Q4 2024, R&T introduces their new Certificate of Deposit Marketplace Exchange℠ (CDMX) Program for FI’s.  The upcoming program offers: access to expand deposit insurance through CDs; availability to individuals, businesses and municipalities; and an online portal for ease of transaction handling and reporting.   

 

• COCC announced its partnership with FirstData to offer the Clover® point-of-sale card processing solution to enable COCC’s community of banks and credit unions to enhance the payment experience for their consumers worldwide.

 

• MANTL announced their integration with Q2's Digital Banking Platform via the Q2 Partner Accelerator Program.  “This collaboration integrates MANTL Consumer Deposit Origination and MANTL Business Deposit Origination with Q2’s Digital Banking Platform to deliver a seamless account origination and onboarding experience for bank and credit union staff, customers, and members.” 

 

• Marqeta (NASDAQ: MQ) becomes the first issuer processor in the US certified for Visa Flexible Credential; and announced they are working with Visa and Affirm to offer multiple types of payment options on a single card including debit, credit, “pay-in-four” BNPL, or even pay with rewards points.
  • As previously announced back in May, Visa Flexible Credential is live in Asia and will be launching with Affirm in the US later this summer.

 

• ACI Worldwide and Worldpay have announced an extension of their longstanding partnership with ACI continuing to provide critical infrastructure to Worldpay.  If it ain’t broke – don’t fix it!!! 😊

 

• Greenlight (family banking app focused on financial literacy for kids) partners with Bank of Clarke in Virginia (FDIC 6123; Total Assets $1.8B) to enhance financial literacy for children as part of the Greenlight for Banks program.  This allows Bank of Clarke customers to “receive free access to the award-winning Greenlight family finance app…”
  • This comes just about a month after signing US Bank ($684B Total Assets) to Greenlight’s embedded mobile app.  Those are some big wins!!

 

• Couple of announcements from major retail brands launching co-branded open loop credit cards (I love Tanner’s saying that this is the “gateway drug to embedded finance in retial” – LOL!!!!)
  • Ollie’s Bargain Outlet (522 stores in 31 states) partners with Sunbit to launch new co-branded open loop Visa credit card (issued by TAB Bank).
  • Brooks Brothers (500 stores and outlets in 45 countries) partners with Imprint for new Brooks Brothers World Mastercard co-branded open loop credit card (issued by First Electronic Bank).
  • Sheetz (676 stores in 6 states) announced the launch of the newly enhanced Sheetz Visa Card a co-branded open loop credit card issued by FNBO with enhanced rewards and expanding on an existing 14 year relationship with FNBO.

 

• Galileo announced the launch of Galileo 3D Secure (3DS) Access Control Server (ACS) to help clients protect against card-not-present (CNP) debit and credit card fraud.  Hugely important as CNP fraud is projected to skyrocket globally.
  • “He was a poor boy from a poor family” 🎵 – Sorry, sometimes my immaturity knows no bounds; and it’s been a really stressful week! 😝

 

• Flagstar Bank (FDIC 32541, $113B Total Assets, bank sub of NYCB) sold its residential mortgage servicing business to Mr Cooper for $1.4B – deal to close 4Q2024.  Housingwire is reporting that sources said over 1,000 Flagstar employees will be offered the opportunity to join Mr. Cooper.
  • Credit to Clark Street Capital for their weekly BAN Report reminding us that “last month the Financial Stability Oversight Council did a Report on Nonbank Mortgage Servicing. Back in 2008 Nonbank Mortgage Companies (NMCs) held only 4% of mortgage servicing rights.  As of 2022, they owned 54% and its climbing with acquisitions like this.”  The expectation is that this trend will continue to accelerate.

 

• A few personnel moves:
  • Brex names Sibongile Ngako as Chief Compliance Officer.
  • Temenos makes a couple of key leadership appointments in the US including Isabelle Guis as Chief Marketing Officer and member of the Executive Committee; and Monty Bhatia is appointed Executive Vice President (EVP) of Global Alliances and Partner Ecosystem.

 

• Notable FinTech funding for the week:
  • Fragment (ledger API for building financial products) raised $9M Seed round.

 
 
Random Uncle Sean stuff:

• I need a price check and cleanup on aisle 2….  Kroger’s $25B planned acquisition of Albertsons is temporarily halted due to antitrust concerns.  Hearing is planned for Sept 30.
• Cocaine sharks???  Really??? SMH…
• Snoop Dogg carries the Olympic torch in the penultimate (that is a barrister term for sure) leg before Friday night’s opening ceremony….  Don’t worry – he was on his best behavior! 😏😆
• And some quick Dad / Bad Jokes to start the weekend:
  • Here is another one from 13 year old Zoe (thank you, Zoe)…  Do you know why Texas doesn’t have U-Haul trucks?  Because we use Yee-Haw trucks instead! 🚚
  • Argentina is surprisingly cold this time of year…  In fact, it’s bordering on Chile…. 🙄
  • Sometimes I make my dog watch commercials of the homeless dogs in shelters – just so he knows how good he’s got it. 🐶
  • Pro tip on how to avoid stress at work…  Don’t go!!! 😊
  • Saving the best for last…
    • Hey, Aunt Patty - pass me the…. um… uh…  horse chester sauce, rooster shooter sauce, wash a chester shire, what’s this here sauce, who’s your sister sauce, where’s your sister sauce, wish I had a sister sauce, worst sister sauce, wish you could say it sauce, wish a sista would sauce, the witch is here sauce, WoooSaahhh 🧘‍♂️ sauce….  Oh forget it, just hand me the A-1… 🤠🤣😂  

 
 
Have a GREAT weekend and please stay safe!!!
 
Uncle Sean
 
 
Sometimes known as Sean Mayo – contact me directly for scope and pricing of custom reports / analysis projects at [email protected] | 214-604-6961 – or you can contact FedFis Sales Team at 512-960-0911 | [email protected] #FedFisHasTheData FedFis
 
FedFis, LLC disclaimer – The views and opinions of Uncle Sean are of his own and may not necessarily represent the views, endorsements, and/or opinions of FedFis, LLC – we all know he’s a little bit different; but that’s why we love him.
 

​Happy Friday!!!
 
So many super cool announcements and product launches this week – so let’s jump right to it! 🤠 Here is the Uncle Sean Update for 7/19/24:
 

• More payments flex 💪 – this week it is Nacha reporting significant increases in 2Q2024.  Some highlights:
  • 8.3 billion ACH payments in 2Q (up 6.3% over last year) with dollar volume of $21.6 trillion (up 7% over last year)
    • B2B volume increased 10.9% and P2P volume increased 13.9%
  • Same Day ACH had 292.3 million payments in 2Q (up 46.6% over last year) with dollar volume of $803.3 billion (up 31.1% over last year)
    • Same Day ACH exceeded 100 million payments in a month for the first time in April

 

• Transend (business working capital) partners with Midland States Bank to launch B2B private-label working capital solution for suppliers on a national platform.

 

• FIS (NYSE: FIS) launched SMB Digital Lending solution in partnership with Lendio to streamline and automate the SMB lending process (from sourcing to funding) for financial institutions by leveraging advanced data analytics and machine learning.

 

• PLS (operates over 200 community financial service centers across the country) has partnered with Green Dot (NYSE: GDOT) to launch the Xpectations!® Plus Debit Card and suite of online banking services for PLS’ five million-plus customers.  WOWZA!!!! 💥

 

• This match makes perfect sense and Uncle Sean love’s these win-win-win scenarios.  Clair (bank-issued EWA platform with Pathward, N.A.) has partnered with Gusto (payroll and benefits platform) to embed EWA to employees of Gusto’s 300K business clients via the Gusto Wallet. 

 

• InComm Payments announced a “New Way to HSA” (now that’s a great line! 😉) with the launch of InComm Benefits division providing automated and intuitive Health Savings Account (HSA) and Flexible Spending Account (FSA) services with Visa debit card and mobile app (banking services provided by Coastal Community Bank).  Check it out at www.incomm.com/benefits/ - that app is really cool!!!

 

• Estu (university student life focused fintech) launched their new all-in-one mobile app to help students manage finances, academics, and social life.

 

• In the rumor mill…  It is being reported that Klarna (BNPL) is weighing financial advisors for a possible U.S. IPO as early as next year.  🤷‍♂️

 

• Stratyfy (AI/ML credit decisioning) has partnered with Prism Data’s cash flow based underwriting to help lenders make more informed decisions where traditional credit underwriting falls short.

 

• 👀 More Pay-by-Bank headlines…  Aeropay (pay-by-bank / A2A platform) announced the launch of Aerosync, their proprietary bank aggregator platform enabling secure access and standards for open bank connectivity, data accuracy, and customer experience.  This comes just two months after their $20M Series B funding round back in May (sporting 10X revenue growth over the last year).  Nice! 🚀

 

• Episode Six (E6), payments-as-a-service, launches cloud-based global issuer payment solution in AWS marketplace allowing “AWS customers the ability to find and deploy the E6 cloud solution seamlessly.  Check out their paytech platform for banks and fintech companies at episodesix.com – tell them Uncle Sean sent you! 😊

 

• Another tough week on the regulatory front:
  • Rumored to be coming for quite some time (and addresses issues from several years ago), the FRB finally issued a public Enforcement Action against Green Dot and civil money penalty of $44M (ouch).
  • The FRB also issued an Enforcement Action against Jiko Group, the bank holding company for Mid-Central National Bank, to improve upon and utilize Jiko’s financial and managerial resources as a “source of strength” to the bank – to which Jiko has already begun to take steps “including by raising additional capital and reducing expenses…”
  • Of course the week would not be complete without a CFPB announcement.  On Thursday, the CFPB proposed an interpretive rule explaining that many paycheck advance products, sometimes marketed as “earned wage” products, are consumer loans subject to the Truth in Lending Act.
    • As you can probably imagine, this is sparking plenty of debate from all sides.  This CNBC article is a pretty good summary.

 

• 👀Very interesting speech this week by Fed Governor, Michelle W. Bowman regarding Liquidity, Supervision, and Regulatory Reform with perspective into the bank run / bank failures last year; and insights into borrowing availability, collateral flow, and the speed at which money can move in times of stress.  Definitely worth a quick read. 💯

 

• Some personnel moves:
  • Webster Financial Corporation (NYSE: WBS, the bank holding company for Webster Bank, N.A.) announced the appointment of William (Neal) Holland as Executive Vice President and CFO for both the holding company and the bank.
  • Allied Payment Network adds Hank Vanjaria as Chief Financial Officer.
  • April names former Raj Doshi as President and COO.

 

• Notable FinTech funding for the week:
  • TruckSmarter (financial services for freight / trucking) raised $50M debt facility with an option to increase to $100M to expand its financial services offerings.
  • Aven (consumer credit card backed by home equity) raised $142M in Series D funding round.
  • Coast (fleet expense management) raised $40M in Series B round.
  • Slope (AI Order-to-Cash / B2B payments) raised $252M in capital consisting of $77M in equity and $175M in debt financing.

 
 
Random Uncle Sean stuff:

• It’s here!!!!  The Paris 2024 Summer Olympics kicks off next week.  Sadly, Patrick Rivenbark and I did not make the 2024 Breakdancing Team – LOL!!!! 🤠  But hey, there’s always 2028!
• Aunt Patty and I will be celebrating our birthday next week – Yes, we have the exact same birthday.  Same year too, but I always enjoy reminding her that she is 8 ½ hours older than me (which I think makes her a cougar – LOL)! 🎂🎉😆
• Here we go – this weeks Dad / Bad Jokes:
  • Once you accept the fact that queso and margaritas taste better than being skinny, the second half of your life begins! 🍹
  • “You may all go to In-n-Out, and I will go to Whataburger.”  - Davy Crockett 🤠🍔
  • There are three types of people in this world.  Those who are good at math and those who are not… 🙄
  • There are no knock-knock jokes about America….  Because freedom rings!
  • I was confused as to why my computer kept singing….  But then I realized it was “a Dell”…. 🎵🎶

 
 
Have a GREAT weekend and please stay safe!!!
 
Uncle Sean
 
 
Sometimes known as Sean Mayo – contact me directly for scope and pricing of custom reports / analysis projects at [email protected] | 214-604-6961 – or you can contact FedFis Sales Team at 512-960-0911 | [email protected] #FedFisHasTheData FedFis
 
FedFis, LLC disclaimer – The views and opinions of Uncle Sean are of his own and may not necessarily represent the views, endorsements, and/or opinions of FedFis, LLC – we all know he’s a little bit different; but that’s why we love him.
 

Happy Friday!!!
 
Happy to be back after an extended (and HOT) Independence Day holiday!!!  Lot’s of great stuff to dig into, so let’s jump right in.  Here is the Uncle Sean Update for 7/12/24:
 

• A bit of good economic news this week as June CPI actually declined 0.1% for the month (first time that prices have fallen since 2020 – Holy Moly) after a flat reading in May; and 3.0% over last year.  Core for the month was +0.1% after rising 0.2% in May; with 3.3% over last year (lowest since April 2021).  CNBC has a good summary as always.
  • Declining inflation metrics coupled with a cooling labor market (June unemployment rate increased to 4.1%, its highest level since November 2021) is giving hope for potential FOMC interest rate cuts as we move into 2H2024.  🙌🎉
    • Additionally, if you want to get really deep into the weeds…  The Federal Reserve Board released their semiannual Monetary Policy Report to Congress.

 

• Could this be good news (finally) related to the Synapse bankruptcy 💩 disaster???  CNBC is reporting that banks in Synapse mess make progress toward releasing deposits to fintech customers – potentially in a matter of weeks; and with hopes of a full reconciliation after the banks hired a former Synapse engineer late last month to unlock data.
  • Fingers crossed… 🤞

 

• 👀 SRM (Strategic Resource Management) has acquired Kenneth J. Sole & Associates, “a trusted banking technology consulting firm specializing in core processing platform conversion, migration support, and outsourced leadership for community, regional, and national banks as well as a myriad of credit unions.”  NICE!!!! 🚀

 

• Very happy to see this - RiskScout announced the launch of their comprehensive BSA / AML solution for financial institutions.  The timing is impeccable as almost all regulatory enforcement action / consent orders I have seen over the last year contained BSA / AML verbiage.

 

• A sign of the times???  Target announced they will no longer accept personal checks as a form of payment due to “extremely low volumes.”    
  • Honestly, I am a little surprised that we are not seeing more of this considering the recent rise in check fraud and so many other alternate forms of payment available…  Especially considering the Debit Card was theoretically (arguably anyway) supposed to replace cash and checks. 
    • Side note - did you know that the debit card was first piloted way back in 1966 by The Bank of Delaware (58 years ago 😲)???  Greenlight has a good quick read on the history and evolution of the debit card from back in February of this year. 😊
      • Ah, the snail pace 🐌 of consumer adoption of new financial services…. 🤷‍♂️

 

• And another incredibly timely product launch with so many ransomware cyberattacks - Sonar (fraud consortium powered by Sardine) has launched "Red Flag" service “to help banks and fintechs quickly verify if their customers’ data has been compromised in a breach or used for fraudulent activities, such as opening accounts, applying for loans, and making fraudulent online purchases.” 

 

• 👀 More regulatory concerns for BaaS Sponsor Banks (asset / lending side rarity) – shockingly, this one does NOT involve BSA / AML….  Enter CRA to the regulatory BaaS party…  The FDIC downgrades Forbright Bank's CRA score to the rare NI.  Keeping in mind that this is from a credit-builder fintech relationship that ended in April 2022; and the related originations made up less than 0.05% of the bank’s assets – according to the article.
  • Beware that this is not the first time CRA has been regulatory emphasis for BaaS Sponsor Banks.  Recall 2022 (actually released 2/1/23) Transportation Alliance Bank (TAB Bank) CRA Performance Evaluation of NI based on “illegal credit practice” (UDAP) of one of its fintech lending partners.

 

• Payments, payments, payments…:
  • RTP flex 💪!!!  RTP® network by The Clearing House sets 2nd Quarter Records including:
    • Single day record of over $1B in instant payments on June 28th; and 2Q record totals of 82M transactions and $55B total payment volume. 💥
  • Onbe partners with ZSuite Tech to provide “an embedded digital disbursement option for the more than 90 U.S. banks that use ZSuite Tech, allowing them to offer a simplified and cost-efficient mechanism for issuing payments through popular methods including virtual cards, ACH, push to card and mobile wallets.” 
  • Galileo adds wire transfer capabilities for its fintech customers via Fedwire and Community Federal Savings Bank.
  • MassPay partners with Cross River Bank to expand access to domestic B2B and B2C instant payments for MassPay’s partners and clients.

 

• Andrews Federal Credit Union (Charter 5754; Total Assets $2.6B) selects Blend for new digital account opening solution.

 

• Speaking of credit unions…..  I have some M&A rumor mill for you this week (Uncle Sean typically avoids rumor reporting, but this looks legit)…  Arrha Credit Union (Charter 61189; Total Assets $141M) is considering merging with The Pittsfield Co-operative Bank (FDIC 26393; Total Assets $382M) according to a legal ad soliciting feedback from credit union members. 

 

• And more credit union developments as ModernFi announced a partnership with Members Development Company (network of 80 large credit union owners) to create the first deposit network for credit unions to provide increased NCUA insurance – WOWZA!!!!

 

• Notable FinTech funding for the week:
  • Accend (onboarding and risk assessment for B2B FinTech) raised $3.2M in Seed funding.
  • Earned Wealth (financial services firm focused exclusively on the needs of medical professionals) raised $200M in capital.
  • Niva (global business identity verification platform – KYB) raised $3.3M Seed round.
  • DigniFi (automobile repair financing) raised $175M in capital.

 
 
Random Uncle Sean stuff:

• NASCAR unveils its first electric racecar sporting a whopping 1,300 HP!!!  I’m not 100% sure how I feel about that as the smell of gas and oil enhances the race experience (for me anyway), but I am trying to keep an open mind.
• After Hurricane Beryl knocked out power for over 2 million customers in the greater Houston area, the Whataburger app has become the unlikely power outage map after frustrations with the local utility company that does not have an outage map.  Yep – just one more reason why Texans love our Whataburger!!! 🍔
• And the moment everyone has been waiting for – the Dad / Bad Jokes:
  • It was so hot and humid here in Texas over the fourth of July holiday weekend that you could drink the air through a straw! 🥵
  • Uncle Sean spent so much money at the fireworks stand that the guy behind the counter gave me a high-four…. 🙄🤐
  • This one comes in from a young fan (shout out to 13 year old Zoe)…  What does a baby microchip call its Father?  Data… 😊
  • Little known fact – Tonto’s banker was The Loan Arranger… 🤠
  • And to wrap up the week…  Aunt Patty and I sincerely want our children to have all of the things we couldn’t afford….  Then we’re going to move in with them – LOL!!!! 😂🤣

 
 
Have a GREAT weekend and please stay safe!!!
 
Uncle Sean
 
 
Sometimes known as Sean Mayo – contact me directly for scope and pricing of custom reports / analysis projects at [email protected] | 214-604-6961 – or you can contact FedFis Sales Team at 512-960-0911 | [email protected] #FedFisHasTheData FedFis
 
FedFis, LLC disclaimer – The views and opinions of Uncle Sean are of his own and may not necessarily represent the views, endorsements, and/or opinions of FedFis, LLC – we all know he’s a little bit different; but that’s why we love him.