Happy Friday!!!
 
Here is the Uncle Sean Update for 4/9/21:
 

• This has been WIDELY circulated all week, but is worth mentioning again…..  Jamie Dimon (arguably the World’s most powerful banking leader as Chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase) released his annual letter to shareholders this week.  It’s a good read if you have the time (66 pages), but If you don’t’ have the time – I’ll break it down for you in 2 Key Takeaways: 1) A very bullish stance on the economy – “…with excess savings, new stimulus savings, huge deficit spending, more QE, a new potential infrastructure bill, a successful vaccine and euphoria around the end of the pandemic, the U.S. economy will likely boom,” Dimon said. “This boom could easily run into 2023 because all the spending could extend well into 2023.”; and 2) A resounding alarm that incumbent banks are facing enormous competitive threats from virtually every angle -  “Banks are playing an increasingly smaller role in the financial system” citing the rapid growth of payment and fintech companies as well as Big Tech (specifically naming Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, and Walmart as JPM competitors).

 

• In case you missed it, Walmart may have given us a sneak peek of what their Ribbit backed fintech offering may look like through a trademark filing with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.  Say hello to Hazel by Walmart….  The trademark references a multitude of services that might be offered including (but not limited to): banking and financial services including issuing and processing of credit card, debit card and prepaid card services (including mobile payments), lending, electronic funds transfer, bill payment services, financial counseling, credit repair, foreign exchange payment processing, and virtual currency transaction processing amongst other services…..  Sounds like a bank to me, but I’m still a little confused as to why Arvest Bank (owned by the Walton family) isn’t leading the charge for Walmart financial services….

 

• Dwolla announced real-time payments (RTP) option through an integration with Cross River Bank (those folks at Cross River Bank are serious FI innovators).  So what???  It’s yet another “bank only feature” (i.e. protective industry moat) that has been breached by the US fintech / Neo bank space.

 

• SoFi is dipping their toes into the auto loan refinancing market through partnership with MotoRefi by connecting borrowers with auto loan refinancing options through Lantern by SoFi.  To me this feels like a basic referral model since Lantern is a product comparison site where consumers can shop for and compare financial offers from hundreds of lenders and funding sources.  I suspect some of this will change if / when SoFi obtains approval to acquire Golden Pacific Bank and obtains their own bank charter.

 

• And our Credit Union friends are making news again this week!  Check out this new VC fund called Curql.  For the love of everything that is Holy, please do not ask me how to pronounce that – LOL (just kidding – it’s actually pronounced “circle”).  They operate as a VC “gateway for FinTech access to credit unions” launched by leading credit unions of Members Development Company and managed by Next Level Ventures.  The flagship Curql Fund I announced its first funding close of $70M this week.

 

• But wait!!!!  Not to be outdone by CUs, take a look at JAM FINTOP Banktech who just announced a $150M investment fund (of which all 66 of the funds limited partners are community banks) designed to help accelerate technology adoption at community banks across the United States.  The JAM FINTOP Banktech investment team is “currently evaluating investments in B2B banktech (aka FI Fintech) companies with active deployments in banks and annual recurring revenue approaching or exceeding $1 million”.  Check them out at jamfintop.com.

 

• While widely reported as rumor over the last few weeks, Plaid confirmed this week that they raised $425M in Series D funding round at an estimated $13.4B valuation.  This comes just a few months after Visa and Plaid terminated their $5.3B merger after a year citing Department of Justice lawsuit on antitrust grounds.  Now to be fair, that $5.3B purchase price was set before the pandemic began (which greatly accelerated digital adoption and Plaid’s growth too).  Take a look at this Forbes article that claims Plaid grew by 60% last year and “annualized” revenue reached about $170M by Dec 2020 (citing anonymous source).  Considering a $225M 2021 total revenue model, that equates to 59x forward revenue multiple.  Yes, top line revenue multiple – not earnings…..  WOWZA!!!

 

• Another rumor was confirmed this week – Ramp (provides a Visa business charge card issued by Sutton Bank along with an expense management platform) announced that they raised $115M Series B round in two tranches.  The first of which, a $65 million investment led by D1 Capital Partners, valued the startup at $1.1 billion.  An additional $50 million investment led by Stripe (yes, the online payments giant) pushed the valuation to $1.6 billion.

 

• Online mortgage lender Better scores a $500M investment from SoftBank at a valuation of approximately $6B.

 

• Avant (fintech alt lender) has acquired Zero dba Level which now gives Avant full Neo / Challenger Bank status as they will be able to complement their existing consumer lending platform (Mastercard CC and Personal Loans sponsored by WebBank) with Level’s established interest bearing DDA with Visa debit card (issued by Evolve Bank & Trust) and cash back rewards in a mobile app.

 

• Fidelity, Square, and Coinbase launch a new bitcoin Lobbyist / Trade Group called Crypto Council for Innovation.

 

• Coinbase announced 1Q2021 "estimated" earnings ahead of next week’s highly anticipated direct listing.  Revenues increased about 9x (driven by the rally in the price of bitcoin) to $1.8B from $191M in the same quarter last year; and net income grew to about $800M from $32M a year ago.  You can check out their full S-1 Registration Statement if you really want to get into the nitty-gritty.

 
 
Random Uncle Sean Stuff:

• So I finally passed my 2 week incubation period from my 2nd Covid vaccination.  First thing I did was go see Davey and Tanner as its been about a year!!!!  WFH is cool and convenient, but there is a special refreshing energy that you can certainly feel when you are around others that are passionate and enjoying what they do.  I even got to spend an hour or so fishing with Dave (I caught more than he did – don’t let him lie to you about that – LOL)!!!!!
• Back by popular demand- here are a few quick Dad Jokes:
  • I feel a lot happier since I switched from coffee in the morning to orange juice.  Doc says it’s probably the vitamin C and naturally occurring sugars – but I’m pretty sure it’s the vodka.
  • Why didn’t they name the iPhone charger an Apple Juicer?
  • I ate a Kids Meal at McDonalds…..  His Mom was not impressed.
  • What’s the difference between empathy and apathy?  I don’t know and I don’t care…
  • And another instant family classic……..  Aunt Patty asked me to stop singing “I’m a Believer” by The Monkees because she found it annoying.  At first I thought she was just kidding………….  But then I saw her face!  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 smayo@fedfis.com | 214-604-6961 – or you can contact FedFis Sales Team at 512-960-0911 | info@fedfis.com #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 Good Friday!!!
 
It was a short Holliday Week for many folks, but jam packed with some really cool market events – Here is the Uncle Sean Update for 4/2/21:
 

• Visa announced the ability to settle USDC stablecoin in a pilot program over Ethereum blockchain.  “Working with Anchorage, the first federally chartered digital asset bank and an exclusive Visa digital currency settlement partner, Visa has launched a pilot that allows Crypto.com to send USDC to Visa to settle a portion of its obligations for the Crypto.com Visa card program.”  While initially only available on the Crypto.com platform via Anchorage API’s, Visa will offer the service to more partners later this year.

 

• Paypal launches Checkout with Crypto – a crypto payment platform that allows customers to convert cryptocurrencies into fiat currencies when they place their order (presumably cutting any cryptocurrency volatility risk for the merchant).  This expands on their partnership with Paxos as well as their recent acquisition of Curv (cryptocurrency security firm).

 

• Unifimoney partners with Gemini for cryptocurrency trading of more than 30 cryptocurrencies to Unifimoney customers.  “Unifimoney users will now have access to Gemini’s platform through their Unifimoney account and can access the full suite of Gemini’s crypto assets to seamlessly buy, sell, and store their crypto. This partnership makes Unifimoney the only investing app that allows users four different ways to invest including passive investing with robo portfolios and auto invest, active trading commission free, access to trading Gold, Silver, Platinum, and Palladium, and now the ability to trade cryptocurrencies.”

 

• Q2 announces agreement to acquire ClickSWITCH.  This is definitely a strategic acquisition to supplement their Q2 GRO digital new account opening app as ClickSWITCH is an “automated financial account switching solution” that allows account holders to switch to another financial institution in minutes.

 

• Walgreens is making news this week related to their upcoming launch of a bank account and mobile app consisting of a Mastercard debit card (MetaBank).  This comes after they announced a Mastercard credit card offering (Synchrony Bank) earlier this year.  Did you know that Walgreens has over 9,000 locations (who said the branch model is dead – LOL)?  While we are on the topic of retail embedded banking, did you know that 7-Eleven has a mobile banking app?  Seriously – check it out at Transact by 7-Eleven.  They have a prepaid GPR Mastercard debit card (MetaBank) with a mobile app, rewards, bill pay, and mobile check deposit (Ingo Money / First Century Bank).

 

• Yep – I am reading the same articles as you are regarding H&R Block planning to enter the digital banking space….  And I am confused too…  H&R Block already has Wave Money (business) app with a Visa business debit card issued by Community Federal Savings Bank; as well as the Emerald Card (consumer) including mobile app, personal loans, and prepaid GPR Mastercard debit card issued by MetaBank with direct deposit, mobile check deposit (Ingo Money / Sunrise Banks), and bill pay….  See page 38 of the Dec 2020 Investor Day Presentation where H&R Block mentions that “67% of Block customers likely to open a bank account with Block if offered”…..  Maybe someone should let them know that they already have multiple bank account offerings?  Nah - LOL!!!!!

 

• Beam Financial and owner, Yinan “Aaron” Du, get a permanent ban by the FTC (and as well they should) as part of a settlement – OUCH!!!! 

 

• Dapper Labs, a non-fungible token (NFT) company behind CryptoKitties and NBA Top Shot, has raised $305M at a valuation of $2.6B.  If you haven’t seen it, you MUST watch this hilarious SNL YouTube video on NFT’s – it’s an instant classic!

 

• Coinbase set to commence trading on April 14 after receiving SEC approval for their direct listing; and selects Brett Redfearn (former director of the SEC) to run their capital markets division.

 

• Vystar Credit Union announced an agreement to acquire Heritage Southeast Bank in Georgia.  A quick cursory review of the FedFis M&A database (yes, that was a plug) tells me that this is the largest Credit Union acquisition of a Bank EVER as HSB has $1.57B in total assets as of 12/31/2020.  This is also VyStar’s second acquisition of a bank in 2 years.

 

• The NCUA liquidated Indianapolis’ Newspaper Federal Credit Union (INFCU) this week.  Although there have been three CUs conserved this year, this is the first liquidation since May 2020.  Special shout out to the FedFis Analyst Team (yes, another plug) - they are freakin’ Rock Stars!!!  The FedFis Rating © for INFCU was 4.56 at 9/30/20 call report and 4.63 at 12/31/20 call report placing them in the lowest possible percentile for the last six months.  The FedFis Rating © is consistent with regulator scoring on a 1.00 (best) to 5.00 (worst) scale.

 

• I believe it was the 2/26 Uncle Sean Update where we talked about TransferWise changing their name to Wise (wise.com/us), but not to be confused with the original Wise (wise.us)….  Well, now the original Wise (wise.us) has changed their name to Solid…..  You know I just can’t help myself, so here it comes - Wise got wise to TransferWise’s change to Wise and so Wise became wiser and converted to Solid - but who is the wisest with the wisecracks???  LOL!!!!!

 
 
Random Uncle Sean Stuff:

• Me and Aunt Patty daringly ventured out of the house last Saturday and went to Creekside Cookers BBQ and Bar in Wimberley, TX for lunch.  It’s a nice setting under huge Live Oak trees with outdoor picnic table seating and a full outdoor bar.  Aunt Patty had Loaded Rodeo Nachos (with chopped brisket) and I had catfish and some ice cold beer.  The food was fantastic and the outdoor venue was everything I had hoped for.  Springtime in the Texas Hill Country is nothing short of amazing. 
• And the Final Four is set!  Women: South Carolina vs Stanford and UConn vs Arizona, Men: Houston vs Baylor and UCLA vs Gonzaga!!!!!
• Does surfing the internet count as exercise (asking for a friend)?

 
 
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 smayo@fedfis.com | 214-604-6961 – or you can contact FedFis Sales Team at 512-960-0911 | info@fedfis.com #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!!!!
 
There is some cool stuff going on this week – Here is the Uncle Sean Update for 3/26/21:
 

• Is mobile app based ordinary investor IPO access the new rage?  It certainly looks that way….  Robinhood is reportedly building a platform to “democratize” IPOs according to this Reuters article – basically allowing ordinary investors to buy shares in IPO listings prior to trading (the article cites an average first-day trading pop on U.S. listings of businesses in 2020 was 36%, according to data provider Dealogic).  They are also planning on reserving some of their own shares for their upcoming IPO for their users to acquire prior to the commencement of trading.  Interestingly enough, SoFi also announced a platform for its members to invest in IPOs through their SoFi Invest app.  SoFi said the offering will be available to anyone who opens or has an investment account with the company and has at least $3,000 in their account.

 

• Funniest thing I read all week – “do you think Robinhood will have to halt trading on their own IPO?”  LMAO!!!!

 

• Check these guys out - Greenwood (fintech startup designed to support Black and Latinx consumers and businesses) gets a double boost from Uncle Sean this week.  First, they announced $40M in Series A funding round from an impressive set of investors led by Truist Ventures, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, PNC, Citigroup, Mastercard, Visa, FIS, Banco Popular, and several other VC firms including SoftBank’s Opportunity Fund…  WOW - how’s that for some name dropping?!?!?!  Greenwood plans to officially launch this summer (recall about two months ago where we talked about Greenwood already reaching 500K users in the first 100 days of beta) with a debit card, savings, P2P, and mobile deposit capture.  They plan on providing credit and investment products in 2022.  Secondly, Greenwood also announced its Minority Deposit Institution (MDI) program where they will share interchange fees with MDI partners, create co-marketing campaigns, and also drive new customers to MDI partners for consumer loan products.  NOW we are getting somewhere – a minority / underserved focused challenger platform that also harnesses the power of MDI / CDFI programs…..  Nicely done, Greenwood!!!!

 

• Coinbase to delay direct listing to April.

 

• Revolut applies for US Bank Charter.  This (somewhat ironically) comes just days after Revolut announced an exit from Canada (and unable to obtain a Canadian banking license) which was still in beta and hadn’t even launched yet.

 

• During a virtual panel discussion on digital banking hosted by the Bank for International Settlements, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell stated that the central bank is still exploring the potential for a central bank digital currency (CBDC), but is in no hurry; and cryptocurrencies like bitcoin can't replace the US dollar as they are “highly volatile and therefore not really useful stores of value and they’re not backed by anything”.  The Boston Fed last year entered into a partnership with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on a multiyear study into developing a central bank digital currency.  According to this CNBC article, the work “is expected to take two to three years and even then is focused more on the hypotheticals of a central bank-sponsored cryptocurrency rather than imminent implementation.”

 

• Jumio raises $150M equity investment from Great Hill Partners, but did not disclose what size ownership stake Great Hill will now have.  Jumio currently focuses on eKYC / eKYB and AML in the global B2B market (with plans to expand into B2C).  You can check them out at Jumio.

 

• And even more funding in the super-hot on-line ID verification, Fraud, and AML space – Feedazi raises $200M in Series D funding at the coveted $1B Unicorn valuation status (is that even a thing anymore???).  Feedzai states that its “customers include four of the five largest banks in North America, 80% of the world’s Fortune 500 companies, 154 million individual and business taxpayers in the U.S., and has processed $9 billion in online transactions for two of the world’s most valuable athletic brands. In total its reach covers some 800 million customers of businesses that use its services. In addition to Citibank, its customers include Fiserv, Santander, SoFi and Standard Chartered’s Mox.”

 

• Plaid announced their inaugural FinRise class of 2021 consisting of Global Data Consortium, Guidefi, OfColor, Walnut, and Zeta.  Plaid’s FinRise is an incubator program for early-stage founders who are Black, Indigenous, or People of Color (BIPOC) designed to “promote a more diverse and inclusive fintech ecosystem.”

 

• AI lending platform Upstart is in the news again (last week we talked about the announcement to acquire Prodigy Software).  Now they have announced the launch of a new offering to connect borrowers with banks and credit unions called Upstart Referral Network.  Who Cares???  Well, if you think about it, this is pretty cool as their original model was all-digital AI enabled consumer credit decisioning (using 1,600 + data points) to help banks and credit unions make better and more cost effective loan decisions – now they are helping to find and connect qualified borrowers to qualifying banks and CUs (based on the FI’s specific risk tolerances) for more tailored and affordable digital loan process for all parties.  Not to mention that the digital New Account Opening integration (DDA) that Upstart now provides for the FI’s during the loan application process is a nice hook.

 

• The State of Illinois may soon become the second State to issue a "special purpose trust" bank charter that lets special trusts hold digital assets, including cryptocurrencies.  Per the article, “other states, including New York, California and Texas, have taken different approaches, including creating a business license, oversight office and providing guidance, respectively.”  Wyoming is the other State with their Special Purpose Depository Institution (SPDI) charter.

 
 
Random Uncle Sean Stuff:

• SOAPBOX MOMENT - Sometimes I crack up and literally shake my head while reading many of the fintech “pontificators” in the industry (Tanner calls them “talking heads” – LOL) trying to predict the future of literally everything financial….  It is exhausting.  Now don’t get Uncle Sean wrong, yes – I know that things are changing; and for the good; and it’s exciting!  But I’m also old enough to know that mass societal adoption of anything takes time – especially if it is disruptive (even if you CAN predict the future).  I vividly recall the gasoline crisis in the early 70’s where we would sit in line for hours and put the car in neutral to push it forward (because starting the engine would waste too much gas, provided you even had any).  That was 50 years ago and we are just now seeing electric vehicles on a regular basis (those Tesla’s are cool).  We had the technology back then (hell, we had just sent men to the moon for cryin’ out loud).  But you simply cannot succeed in disrupting a petroleum based society overnight with an alternate energy solution – even if it is for the greater good; and even if it is available.  Some things just take time….  Damn that was deep wasn’t it?  WHEW!!!!

• Just in case you were wondering…  Yes, me and Aunt Patty are still rocking that air fryer!  My favorites so far are garlic parmesan chicken wings, coconut shrimp, and homemade sweet potato fries!!!!

 
 
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 smayo@fedfis.com | 214-604-6961 – or you can contact FedFis Sales Team at 512-960-0911 | info@fedfis.com #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 long awaited Uncle Sean Update for 3/19/21:
 

• It’s Fed Week (yes, I dig it a little too much - LOL)!!!  On Wednesday, the Fed issued their FOMC statement.  In summary, the economy is getting better & stronger, but there is still a ways to go; and unemployment still a concern.  As completely expected (again), the Fed plans to remain accommodative and keep interest rates at zero until the cows come home (probably 2023); and continue the sizeable QE era bond buying program at the consistent rate of at least $120B per month ($80B+ in Treasury securities and $40B+ in MBS) as long as is needed.  Additionally, the long-term inflation target remains at 2% (on average for an “extended period of time”, not just in a transitory basis); and will be striving for maximum employment.  If you want to geek out even more, you can refer to the Fed’s Summary of Economic Projections in detail.

 

• Hey, here’s some good news – the IRS announced that the federal tax deadline for individuals has been extended from April 15 to May 17, 2021 for the 2020 tax year.  I love procrastinating, especially when it comes to my taxes – LOL!!!!

 

• Take a look at LendingClub Bank 4Q2020 Investor Presentation for yet another example of the value of a bank charter to a fintech.  On page 12, LendingClub estimates a 90% reduction in funding costs that equates to $30M in cost savings per year for every $1B in deposit funding.  Their acquisition of Radius Bank added $2B in deposits which means that they have already achieved $60M in cost savings per year going forward – just in cost of funds alone.  CHA-CHING!!!!!

 

• Now this is pretty cool and could become a new innovative trend in a digital friendly world…  In advance of Coinbase's Direct Listing, as opposed to the traditional investor “Road Show”, Coinbase is releasing their Investor Education Resources series through videos and launching a Reddit “Ask Us Anything” venue.  Here is their amended S-1 if you really want to get weird and dig into the numbers.

 

• Stripe reaches $95B valuation amongst $600M Series H capital raise.  That’s quite a valuation jump considering Stripe’s previous capital raise last April was $600M at a $36B valuation.  Stripe said they will “use the capital to invest in its European operations, and its Dublin headquarters in particular, support surging demand from enterprise heavyweights across Europe, and expand its Global Payments and Treasury Network.  Enterprise revenue is now both Stripe’s largest and its fastest growing segment, more than doubling year over year.”  It’s worth noting that Stripe has 50 merchant customers that process $1B+ annually; and Stripe signed up over 200,000 customers in Europe in 2020 alone – That’s impressive!!!!

 

• Visa and Mastercard have both agreed to delay fee hike (primarily in online credit card fees – i.e. card not present interchange) until April 2022 while the economy continues to recover.  Now hang on a minute - before we start shooting arrows at these behemoth processors for trying to increase fees on merchants during a pandemic (because that’s what politicians want you to believe), it is only fair to mention that this is nothing new as Visa and Mastercard regularly adjust interchange rate schedules each year.  In fact, these fees were already supposed to take effect last April (yes, 2020), but were voluntarily delayed until this April, and now are being voluntarily delayed again until April 2022 - all while facing increased costs as the world launched ahead to a digital-first economy.  And now you know the rest of the story (yep – that’s an intentional nod to the late Paul Harvey).

 

• The Senate confirmed on Tuesday, Isabel Guzman to lead the Small Business Administration and oversee Covid-19 initiatives including the PPP.

 

• Here is a quick heads-up in case you missed it – Nacha announced that they are expanding same day ACH availability by 2 hours every business day effective March 19, 2021.  “Currently, the latest that an ODFI can submit files of Same Day ACH transactions to an ACH Operator is 2:45 p.m. ET (11:45 a.m. PT).  The new window will allow Same Day ACH files to be submitted until 4:45 p.m. ET (1:45 p.m. PT), providing greater access for all ODFIs and their customers.”  This means that interbank settlement for these entries in the third same day ACH window will occur at 6:00 pm ET.

 

• Online lender Upstart (UPST) announced that they have agreed to acquire Prodigy Software, an end-to-end digital platform for car dealerships that works with existing lenders.  “With the acquisition of Prodigy, Upstart will accelerate its efforts to offer AI-enabled auto loans through the tens of thousands of auto dealers nationwide where the majority of auto loans are originated.”

 

• Blend (a BaaS cloud-based consumer lending platform) announced a definitive agreement to acquire Title365 (title, escrow, and settlement company) for approximately $422M.  This comes just a couple of months after Blend raised $300M in Series Gfunding round.  PYMNTS has a really good Interview with Blend Head of Finance, Marc Greenberg where he discusses the need and Blend’s solution to the vertical digital integration of the entire home buying process into a single unified platform delivering both speed and efficiency.  Uncle Sean agrees!  Having bought and sold about half a dozen homes in my life (so far), I have always felt that the process was way more complicated than it needed to be – not to mention SLOWER THAN MOLASSES IN THE WINTER!

 

• Socure raised $100M in Series D funding round launching them into Unicorn status at $1.3B valuation.  Socure is a leader in the Identity Verification, KYC/AML and Document Verification space.  This Series D round comes less than six months after they raised $35M for a total funding to date of $196M.

 

• Immediate announced $15.5M capital raise split between growth equity and a working capital facility.  Immediate is in the red hot Earned Wage Access (EWA) space.  With their HR/payroll integration they can advance up to 50% of eligible wages either to an employee’s linked bank account or to a prepaid Visa debit card via Visa Direct in real-time.

 

• Crypto custody firm Fireblocks raised $133M in Series C funding bringing their total funding to date to $179M.

 

• Check out my ole buddies over at Samsung in South Korea getting it done with Mastercard as they announce an upcoming launch of a biometric payment card that allows users to authenticate transactions using their fingerprint.

 
It is a SUPER nice day outside today so Uncle Sean is gonna try to sneak out a little early and fire up the BBQ grill.  P.S. Don’t tell my boss – he thinks I’m hard at work!!!!!
 
Random Uncle Sean Stuff:

• Tomorrow is the first day of SPRING!  Wow – what a difference a month makes!  About 30 days ago we were dealing with single digit temps, freezing rain, rolling blackouts, busted water lines, and ultimately about 5 inches of snow here in the Texas Hill Country.  Now I’m mowing the dang yard already, but I’m not complaining!
• Aunt Patty and I rented the movie Coming 2 America (the new sequel to the 1988 hit) the other evening and I cracked up the entire time – Uncle Sean gives it two thumbs up!
• Okay, okay – one quick Dad Joke……..  Getting your stimulus payment on St. Patrick’s Day must be the luck of the IRS….  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 smayo@fedfis.com | 214-604-6961 – or you can contact FedFis Sales Team at 512-960-0911 | info@fedfis.com #FedFisHasTheData FedFis - The Home of Fintech Banking Data
 
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 once again!!!!!

Here is the Uncle Sean Update for 3/12/21 (one year after the pandemic started):

• SoFi makes the headline of the week by announcing the acquisition of Golden Pacific Bancorp, Inc.. and its wholly owned subsidiary Golden Pacific Bank, N.A. ($150M in total assets and $17M tangible common equity).  For my non-banking brethren, think of this as a reverse merger where SoFi is buying a Bank Holding Company (BHC) and the Bank as a wholly owned subsidiary, but maintaining the Holding Company Federal Reserve number as well as the Bank Charter number and just renaming the BHC and the Bank.  They also plan on injecting $750M (that is a heck-of-a-lot of capital) into the national bank to expand their digital banking operations. 

• GEEK WARNING (LOL) – Uncle Sean geeks out a little here related to SoFi and Bank Charters:  For a “relatively” small sum of only $22.3M (basically the cost of a Series A round), SoFi just bought a national bank charter.  Evidently, this is the path of least resistance as well as the cheapest solution for SoFi (the OCC granted SoFi conditional approval for a national bank charter last October, but they still needed Federal Reserve and FDIC blessings).  Taking a page from the Jiko playbook, all SoFi has to do now is apply to become a Bank Holding Company.  This is the culmination of a long and expensive process as SoFi has been trying to obtain a charter since 2016.  To my Bank friends, THIS PART IS FOR YOU – there is a new breed of acquirer now and traditional M&A performance metrics really don’t apply.  The value of a bank charter can be way more than you think in this new environment.  Instead of selling your bank at essentially 1.3x P/TBV (Golden Pacific Bank), look at what your buyer is willing to pay (i.e. opportunity cost of not having a charter) – as well as WHAT the acquirer is actually buying…..  Recall just two months ago where we talked about SoFi going public via SPAC acquisition - see page 35 in the SoFi Investor Deck where SoFi discloses the value of a bank charter (reiterate – ANY charter, not a specific bank) to their operations to be $200M - $300M in incremental EBITDA per year for the next 4 years.  HOLY COW!!!  Now, I know this can be a stretch and I don’t mean to presume that GPB could have received 10x – 20x more purchase price, but if you STILL want to focus on bank financial performance metrics and acquisition pricing in the traditional bank M&A sense, then SoFi just bought a national bank with a 1 month pay-back period (that’ll make your stock jump!)……  Summary – it’s the Charter that is being sold, NOT your bank performance…  So what’s next for SoFi?  Uncle Sean is very interested to see how quickly SoFi Bank becomes a Sponsor Bank offering BaaS solutions while leveraging the Galileo platform (April 2020 acquisition for $1.2B) to assist with third-party fintech card issuance as Program Manager and Processor.  VERY cool stuff (whew - I need a nap now)!!!

• And another interesting industry group launched this week – the Financial Technology Association founding members include Afterpay, Betterment, Brex, Carta, Figure, Marqeta, Quadpay, Plaid, Ribbit Capital, Wise, and Zest AI (pretty dang impressive).  The group strives to be an advocate for consumer-centric fintech development and “will educate stakeholders and support the modernization of financial regulation to drive greater financial inclusion, equity and opportunity.”

• It’s official - PayPal is again taking on more crypto technology strategy.  Widely rumored last week, but actually confirmed this week as they announced the acquisition of Curv to “accelerate and expand its initiatives to support cryptocurrencies and digital assets.”  Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed (but several sources are reporting approximately $200M).  Curv is a leading provider of cloud-based infrastructure for digital asset security.

• Check out Paymynt Financial Group – they announced the upcoming launch of the MYNT PayCard (coming 2Q2021) described as a “next-gen bankless smart card” targeting the U.S. underbanked population.  It is both a cryptocurrency wallet and a payment card that allows members to reload, send, and receive multiple cryptocurrencies through non-bank blockchain technology that they refer to as “chip-to-chain”.

• BlockFI raises $350M in Series D funding with a valuation of approximately $3B in anticipation of doubling their 500 person team by the end of 2021 and launching the BlockFI Bitcoin Rewards Credit Card in early 2021.

• M1 Finance raises $75M in Series D funding round citing rapid growth in assets-under-management in excess of 350% since February 2020. 

• NYDIG raises $200M in new growth funding from strategic investors to help fund its business initiatives related to bitcoin.  NYDIG started to gain serious media attention in December when it helped Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. purchase $100 million in bitcoin.  MassMutual took a $5 million stake in NYDIG at the time and has returned with an additional investment in the company with this round.

• Autobooks raises $25M in Series B round following a strong 2020 with “232% revenue growth and the addition of 46 financial institutions to Autobook’s rapidly growing customer base of banks and credit unions with assets ranging from $50 million to $350 billion.”

• This article in CU Insight about Konstantina Baker made me happy - ProFed promotes Konstantina G. Baker to President / CEO.  This is super cool as she began her career at ProFed Credit Union in 1985 as a teller handling member deposits and loan payments. She worked her way through the ranks and served as assistant vice president of data processing, vice president and controller, chief operating officer, and is now President / CEO of the $570M Indiana CU.  WOW – Congratulations on an amazing career!!!!

Random Uncle Sean Stuff:

• Aunt Patty and I are celebrating 27 years of marriage today!!!!
• Don’t forget to set your clocks forward an hour this Sunday at 2:00 AM for Daylight Savings Time (where observed). 
• Looking back at one year of Covid-19 this month, here are a few notable terms / phrases that I was pleasantly ignorant of before the pandemic began:  Virtual Happy Hour, Anti-Masker, Social Distancing, Quarantini (I actually like that one), Covidiots, Amazon Spendemic, Coronacut (when your wife shaves your head), and TP Hoarders.  Remember when Corona was just a beer?  Wearing a mask in the bank lobby is now normal and required…  And my personal favorite – Covid-19 gave me 20 (as in pounds gained)!!!!

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 smayo@fedfis.com | 214-604-6961 – or you can contact FedFis Sales Team at 512-960-0911 | info@fedfis.com #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!!!!!

March is Women’s History Month and March 8th is International Women’s Day!!!!  May we all harness the amazing strength, wisdom, and compassion of the late and Honorable Ruth Bader Ginsburg (the “Notorious RBG”) and continue to make the world a better place!
Here is the rest of the Uncle Sean Update for 3/5/21:

• The Federal Reserve appointed Sunayna Tuteja as Chief Innovation Officer.  Tuteja’s most recent experience involves more than a decade at TD Ameritrade included being head of strategic partnerships and emerging technology; and eventually as Head of Digital Assets and Digital Ledger Technology.  Undoubtedly a strategic hire as the central bank continues to research Stablecoins and Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs).  This follows a similar announcement (Chief Innovation Officer) at the FDIC just a few weeks ago.

 

• Square Financial Services announced that they have officially begun banking operations under their Utah ILC bank charter.  Approval with Utah DFI and the FDIC was achieved back in March of 2020, but they just now began operating under the charter.  The primary purpose of the bank will be to offer business loans and deposit products.  Initially targeting the underwriting and origination of business loans for Square Capital’s existing lending product; and eventually being the loan provider for Square sellers across the U.S.

 

• Square also dropped $297M in cash and stock to acquire a majority stake in Tidal, a music streaming service.  Yep – it seemed a little weird to me too, but TechCrunch has a very interesting article that speculates into the possibility of Square moving into music-based non-fungible tokens (NFTs).  All the cool kids are doing it (and “non-fungible” is fun to say)!

 

• Well, the pending Walmart fintech startup (that has been frustratingly vague in detail) just got a little bit more interesting….  In what appears to be a nod to the success of Marcus, Walmart has recruited Omer Ismail (the former head of Goldman Sachs’ consumer banking unit) and David Stark to lead the new fintech venture.

 

• Check out this financial literacy app called [Zogo]Zogo.  It is designed for the younger Gen Z crowd and provides financial education in a gaming type format.  You earn “pineapple points” as you successfully complete fun and intuitive quizzes and learning objectives.  You eventually redeem the reward points for actual $5 gift cards (or you can even donate to charity).  Amex announced this week that they are joining up with Zogo as well.  Pretty cool concept and definitely a worthy cause that Uncle Sean supports!!!  Side note - If you are “seasoned” like me and have a tendency to still think that all Millennials are 18 to 20 year old kids in college, here is a good “generational refresher” from our friends at Kasasa.  

 

• SEC chair nominee, Gary Gensler spoke towards promoting cryptocurrency technology while ensuring investor protections during his confirmation hearing this week before the Senate Banking Committee.  “It’s important for the SEC to provide guidance and clarity,” Gensler said. “Sometimes that’s a clarity that will be a thumbs up, but even if it’s thumbs down, it’s important to provide that.”  Yep – I’m pretty sure Ripple would agree with you! LOL

 

• CFPB nominee, Rohit Chopra took a firm stance during his Senate Banking Committee confirmation hearing pledging a strong hand on fair lending and mortgage servicing, stiffer penalties for fraud and misconduct, and a watchful eye on big tech.  Just in case you thought they were kidding, check out the CFPB’s ad seeking attorneys - WHEW!!!

 

• An exciting new industry group called the American Fintech Council (AFC) was formed this week per a merger between Marketplace Lending Association (MLA) and Online Lending Policy Institute (OLPI).  Phil Goldfelder (SVP, Public Affairs for Cross River and founding member of OLPI and friend of FedFis) explained as part of this [American%20Fin]press release, "responsible innovation and putting the interests of customers first are not mutually exclusive—you can do both, while ensuring an inclusive marketplace that benefits everyone. AFC will continue and expand on the mission of OLPI by working with policymakers, industry groups, consumer advocates, and civil rights organizations to foster dialogue that will curtail abusive lending practices and find avenues that help consumers continue to gain access to responsible credit. "  Attaboy Phil!!!!

 

• MoneyLion expands their digital platform “where Americans can easily bank, borrow, save and invest – all in one place” by acquiring Wealth Technologies, Inc. (WTI), an algorithmic financial planning technology firm.  MoneyLion will integrate WTI’s proprietary “fGPS® Financial Goals Positioning System” and provide advice via predictive analytics encompassing the members full picture of spending, credit, and investing by analyzing personal assets, liabilities, income, and expense.  Sounds cool!

 

• Plaid is launching Plaid Income, an income verification tool that is currently in beta, that allows lenders to “quickly and reliably retrieve a consumer’s permissioned income data straight from the source.”

 

• Mobility Capital Finance (MoCaFi) raised $12M Series A funding round.  [MoCaFI]MoCaFi is an African-American owned fintech company with a mobile banking app that also provides credit building / reporting (specifically rent payments through their Bill Pay feature) and financial coaching.

Sneak Peak - Stay tuned next week when FedFis is expected to release the long awaited Bank Core Processor Market Share report!!!!

Random Uncle Sean Stuff:

• The Law of Unintended Consequences…???  Over the last few years, Aunt Patty hasn’t been very happy about Uncle Sean getting on top of an 8’ ladder with a chainsaw, which I tend to do from time to time in order to prune random tree limbs.  Out of safety and concern for my well-being (as well as a few years of chewing me out and reminding me that I am no spring chicken), she finally convinced me to get a pole saw that can reach 12’.  WOW – you should see how high I can get now on top of that 8’ ladder with a 12’ pole saw!!!!.....  And that, my friends, is just another reason why women typically have a longer life expectancy than men.  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 smayo@fedfis.com | 214-604-6961 – or you can contact FedFis Sales Team at 512-960-0911 | info@fedfis.com #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 – we made it!!!!

Can you believe that February is essentially over?  Here is the Uncle Sean Update for 2/26/21:
 

• Monday of this week, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen signaled interest in backing digital-dollar research.  The very next day, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell commented on the possibility of launching a “digital dollar” calling it a high-priority project for the Federal Reserve during testimony provided at the US Senate Banking Committee.  Chairman Powell returned Wednesday for the House side and reiterated that 2021 is going to be an important year for the Fed initiative on CBDCs as they will be engaging with the public including forthcoming events that he did not want to announce at the hearing.  He also mentioned that they are working with central banks around the world on the CBDC initiative and added that they may need “legislative action” and the Fed will be engaging with Congress.  Not coincidentally, the Federal Reserve released a report this week outlining preconditions for a general-purpose central bank digital currency.

 

• Check out this CNBC Closing Bell interview with Vast Bank CEO Brad Scrivner this week - Vast Bank (Tulsa, OK) states that they “are the first national bank to enable the seamless purchase and sale of crypto currency from a single bank account.  We are also the custodian of those digital assets which means we are managing and protecting those digital assets on behalf of our customers.  Coinbase and SAP are partners in providing this service.”  Currently this service is only offered internally to the main shareholders in a beta, but they plan to roll the service out to the general public in the next 60 to 90 days.  Mr. Scrivner goes on to state that there has been significant interest in the bank offering; and that they have been working on this for about five years.  To be fair, Vast Bank first announced this story on 2/4/21 as a press release on their website; but the fact that a privately held family owned bank made it on CNBC Closing Bell is significant.

 

• Coinbase files for IPO via direct listing and will list its shares on the Nasdaq under the stock ticker "COIN."  They reported net revenue of $1.14 billion in 2020, up from $483 million the previous year; and reported net income of $322 million for the year after posting a loss in 2019.  If you really want to get weird, you can read the entire S-1 Registration Statement.

 

• Apex Clearing, which was Robinhood’s clearing house until it built its own a few years ago, issued a press release announcing they are going public via SPAC merger with Northern Star Investment Corp. II. The transaction is said to be valued at $4.7B.  Apex has more than 200 clients including Stash, Firstrade Securities, SoFi, and Marcus.  Check out their Investor Deck for more details – it’s pretty cool.

 

• U.S. bank software provider Alkami is reportedly planning an IPO at $3 billion valuation later this year per this Reuters article.

 

• TransferWise announced their name change to Wise ahead of an expected IPO sometime this year.  Their new name is no doubt an inconvenience to the existing business banking app wise.us.  Maybe not so “wise” after all?  LOL

 

• LinkedIn Wallet?  Microsoft owned LinkedIn has announced that it is developing LinkedIn Marketplaces (set to launch in September), a place where freelancers can seek out their next gig.  With over 740M members, LinkedIn hopes to bite into a major slice of the gig economy pie.  What’s even more interesting is that LinkedIn is also developing LinkedIn Wallet as an embedded finance solution - a tool that will enable the company to facilitate transactions between the employer and the freelancers. This all-in-one ecosystem is likely to present an attractive alternative to all gig economy workers. 

 

• Credit card fintech, Petal, closes $125M debt facility from Silicon Valley Bank and Trinity Capital.

 

• Digital asset bank Anchorage, fresh off of their recent conversion to a National Trust, raises $80M Series C round.  The TechCrunch article mentions that in addition to custody, Anchorage now offers several financial products, such as staking, crypto lending, etc.; and wants to become a one-stop shop for institutional investors.  Anchorage also wants to become a crypto-banking-as-a-service sponsor institution as the preferred crypto partner for both challenger banks and traditional banks.

 

• Thrivent becomes second company in a week to apply for a bank charter via Utah ILC.  Follows Brex just last week. 

 

• BNPL fintech, Affirm, announces the launch of a debit card and claims to be the first U.S. debit card to have direct access to pay-over-time functionality.  This becomes unique in that the new card does not require merchants to opt in to a BNPL agreement.

 

• And more BNPL headlines - Klarna is rumored to be close to finalizing a $1 billion funding round that would give the Swedish fintech company a valuation of $31 billion.  Cha-ching!!!!

 

• SoFi announced the launch of their SoFi Credit Card.  Cardmembers receive 2% back on all eligible purchases when redeemed to pay down SoFi student or personal loan debt, save in SoFi Money, or invest with SoFi Invest accounts.  Similar to setting up autopay, members can enable automated redemptions into their choice of eligible SoFi accounts.

 
Random Uncle Sean Stuff:
I ran across a slew of Dad Jokes recently – enjoy!!!!

• Aunt Patty asked me if I could clear the dining room table.  I had to get a pretty good running start but I made it!
• I stopped at a roadside stand that said lobster tails for $2.  I happily paid my $2 and the guy looked at me and said, “once upon a time there was this lobster….”
• If you ever get locked out of your house, talk to your lock calmly….  Because communication is key.
• Do songbirds think that hummingbirds are useless because they forgot the words?
• How does Moses make his coffee?  Hebrews…
• Tall people sleep longer…
• What do you call a Hippie’s wife?  Mississippi….
• My wife yelled from the other room, “Do you ever get a shooting pain across your body like someone’s got a voodoo doll of you and they’re stabbing it?”  I said, “No….”  She responded: “How about now?”
• If you see a crime in an Apple Store, does that make you an iWitness?
• And an instant family classic – I named my horse Mayo.  And sometimes Mayo neighs…  LMAO!!!!!!

 
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 smayo@fedfis.com | 214-604-6961 – or you can contact FedFis Sales Team at 512-960-0911 | info@fedfis.com #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!!!! 
 
It is COLD here in Texas!  Here is the Uncle Sean Update:

• The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis is taking a close look at Ethereum based decentralized finance (DeFi).  They recently published a report titled “Decentralized Finance: On Blockchain and Smart Contract Based Financial Markets”.  Who cares???  Well, it’s more evidence that governing bodies are looking at this very closely; and yields more support.  New investors / interests coupled with new political administrations point towards even more visibility in the crypto / blockchain space.  Key takeaways to the FRED research report are:  1. The report has a fairly bullish tone and notes that DeFi has the benefits of accessibility, composability, efficiency, and transparency; but 2. Cautions that smart contracts, dependencies, and operational security are key risks to address (echoing comments by Janet Yellen earlier this month).

 

• Speaking of crypto, Mastercard and Island Pay launched the World’s first Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) linked card – the Bahamas Sand Dollar prepaid Mastercard gives people “the option to instantly convert the digital currency to traditional Bahamian dollars and pay for goods and services anywhere Mastercard is accepted on the Island and around the world.”  And so it begins…

 

• FDIC appoints Neocova founder, Sultan Meghji as first ever Chief Innovation Officer.

 

• Brex is now the latest fintech / challenger bank to file for FDIC insurance via Utah ILC bank charter.

 

• Marqeta is making headlines this week as they filed confidentially with the SEC for a proposed IPO with a valuation of approximately $10B.  They also announced that they have expanded their card issuing capabilities with a new credit card platform allowing innovators to launch next-generation credit card programs with flexible controls and features such as rewards, APR and credit lines in real-time based on custom rules using an intuitive dashboard.  Marqeta has partnered with Deserve to “power Marqeta’s program management services, including origination, underwriting, bank and bureau integration, customer service, compliance and risk management”.

 

• Akoya (an FI consortium-owned financial data aggregator and competitor to Plaid in the US) announced that JP Morgan Chase has joined the Akoya Data Access Network.  “Fintechs, data aggregators and other data recipients can now request application programming interface (API)-based access to Chase customer data through Akoya” – thus providing massive scale to Akoya (not to mention significant street cred).  If you want to learn more about Akoya, Tearsheet has a good podcast and write-up with AkoyaCEO, Stuart Rubinstein (from December 2020).

 

• In case you missed it, PayPal surpassed Mastercard in overall market capitalization this week.  Wow!!!!!

 

• SeedFI raises $65M consisting of $15M Series A plus $50M Debt Facility led by Adreessen Horowitz (a16z) which is also the same VC firm that granted their $4M seed round (no pun intended) in 2019.

 

• Vista Equity Partners makes a strategic hire this week and lands Tom Hogan as an Operating Managing Director in Vista’s Flagship Fund.  Most recently, Tom served as Chairman and CEO of Kony for 6 years until the acquisition by Temenos in 2019 where he served as North American President until now.  I’ll be 100% honest – I’m intrigued to see what Vista does next in the Financial Services / FinTech vertical.

 

• Check out this article in Bankers Digest, Let Me Tell You a Story by Chris Williston – he nails it!  I laughed a little too hard as I am somewhat of a numbers geek; and we have the actual data that supports the core conversion rates that Chris refers to.  Actual facts, not narrow surveys forced into grandiose assumptions to fit a “consultants” prerogative (oops – did I just say that???).  I’m reminded of the line from the movie ‘Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy’ - “They've done studies, you know. 60% of the time, it works every time.”  LMAO!!!

 
Random Uncle Sean Stuff:

• You might have heard that we had a slight weather event over the last 8 days or so here in Texas.  WHEW!!!!  Ice, snow, single digit temps, rolling blackouts, and downed tree limbs / power lines are all manageable.  We’re Texans – we can handle anything….  but when the water runs out……  things got a little interesting – LOL.  And WHAT THE HECK IS FREEZING FOG – C’MON MAN!!!  I didn’t even know that was a thing!
• To paraphrase Mr. Robin Fussell, “It was so cold outside this week, I saw a Big 4 banker with his hands in his own pockets!!!!”
• I can’t wait to complain about it being 106 degrees while floating down the San Marcos river…  Ahhhhh, now that’s better.
• Oh yeah – and Happy Birthday to our middle son, Parker!!!!  Mom and Dad are proud of you, young man. 

 
Have a GREAT weekend and please stay safe (and warm)!!!!
 
Uncle Sean
 
Sometimes known as Sean Mayo – contact me directly for scope and pricing of custom reports / analysis projects at smayo@fedfis.com | 214-604-6961 – or you can contact FedFis Sales Team at 512-960-0911 | info@fedfis.com #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!!!! 
 
There is quite a bit of substantial crypto news this week.  Here is the Uncle Sean Update for 2/12/21:

• Last week we mentioned Visa’s plans related to crypto (testing with OCC approved Anchorage Trust and First Boulevard fintech company), so it’s only fair that we share Mastercard’s plans. Check out their blog on Why Mastercard is Bringing Crypto Onto Its Network.  Here are some cool statistics for you:  Mastercard is accepted at 37 million merchants in 210 countries; Visa is accepted at 44 million merchants in approximately 200 countries; and PayPal is accepted at about 29 million merchants.  But only 15,000 business globally accept cryptocurrency payments (for now).  With increasing adoption and regulatory (OCC) guidance, it looks like the global payments landscape is beginning to have a major change.

• Blue Ridge Bank (one of the FinTech Sponsor Banks that we are tracking here at FedFis) now allows their customers to purchase and redeem Bitcoin at 19 of their ATMs.  They are the first commercial bank in the US to provide access to Bitcoin through their ATMs at its branch locations.  They partnered with BluePoint ATM Solutions and LibertyX.  While there are other Bitcoin ATMs out there, they are not connected to a bank account.  The Blue Ridge scenario is unique (this week anyway) as it has the dual capability of servicing cash and Bitcoin transactions.

• BNY Mellon announced that they will begin financing bitcoin and other digital currencies and plans to be able to offer these services to their customers later this year.  “BNY Mellon is proud to be the first global bank to announce plans to provide an integrated service for digital assets,” Roman Regelman, CEO of asset servicing and head of digital at BNY Mellon, said in a press release.

• I’m pretty excited to be following (okay, more like stalking - LOL) these folks at Moov.  They are making headlines with their fintech_devcon conference later this fall.  Also, check out this super cool interview with Wade Arnold (CEO of Moov) where he talks about BaaS and payments as not just for fintech companies integrating with legacy bank tech stack, but more related to EVERY consumer facing company.  “We see a proliferation of the Uber of neighborhood lawn mowers to whatever the next great startups are going to be,” Arnold said. “To allow those payments to be easier for developers to add that feature to their platform is going to be key for that proliferation to happen.”  I love it!!!

• Have you heard about this public bank concept brewing in New Mexico?  Basically it would be a state created bank (initially capitalized by a $50M contribution from the State Treasurer) that receives deposits from local governments and lends to local NM businesses in order to promote economic development.  It’s been kicked around for a few years, but is really starting to gain momentum and is likely to be introduced during the 2021 legislative session. 

• Our Credit Union friends have been busy this week too!  Catalyst Corporate FCU announced the launch of PayMoli, their P2P mobile payment solution, allowing CUs an easy onramp to the marketplace. 

• PSCU announced their plans to roll out a new installment payments solution, aka BNPL installment plan, citing “tremendous demand”.  Their BNPL product will have the flexibility to enable CUs to customize the criteria for their respective installment offers.  The platform will “integrate with PSCU’s Digital Xperience (DX) suite of market-leading digital offerings and will be available through APIs, and will leverage technology from Fiserv.”

• You didn’t think I would miss an opportunity to mention a SPAC, did you???  MoneyLion is set to go public with $2.9B valuation via acquisition by SPAC Fusion Acquisition Corp. according to the MoneyLion press release today.  If you want to geek out (like me) – here is the MoneyLion Investor Presentation (nicely done by the way). 

• Monzo taps $69M Series G extension in a down round on lower valuation.  This follows their $80M raise just in December which was also a down round on lower valuation - OUCH!!!  They announced this week that they hired Carol Nelson as US CEO to focus on the US market.

​

• Reddit raises $250M Series E round.

• Nymbus raises $53M Series C round.

 
Random Uncle Sean Stuff:

• HAPPY VALENTINES DAY or Presidents Day Eve for those less smitten!
• They are forecasting a low of 8 degrees on Sunday and 0 (yes, zero) degrees on Monday here in the Texas Hill Country.  DANG that’s cold!  But it’s okay because they are also calling for 3-5” of snow; and I can’t wait to go outside and build a fire in the snow!!!!
• That reminds me - I better hurry up and get to the store for some whiskey – oops, I mean “supplies”…  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 smayo@fedfis.com | 214-604-6961 – or you can contact FedFis Sales Team at 512-960-0911 | info@fedfis.com #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!!!
 
There was a lot of activity in the payments space this week; and I heard a rumor that there is a football game this weekend! On to Uncle Sean's Update:

• Super Bowl Sunday is right around the corner!  Even if you don’t like football, pretty much everyone enjoys the Super Bowl commercials; and some have been leaked early.  This year sports a string of FinTech debuts into the most coveted ad space on TV.  Robinhood is moving forward with their commercial debut during the Super Bowl.  Judging by the smashing success (cough cough) of their PR and Communications Team recently, I can’t wait to see what they come up with!!!!  BNPL firm Klarna enters the space with SNL star and actress Maya Rudolph.  DoorDash has an ad featuring Daveed Diggs and Cookie Monster which is part of a larger marketing campaign focusing on deliveries beyond food.

 

• PayPal finds itself in a lot of news this week.  Notably their record earnings in which they gained 16 million accounts and transaction revenue increased 12% over 3Q.  However, they also find themselves in the middle of a CFPB investigation related to their Venmo platform alleged unauthorized fund transfers and collections process.

 

• Visa prepares payment rails for full range of cryptocurrency assets; and partners with fintech startup First Boulevard(fka Tenth) to pilot the new suite of crypto APIs.

 

• The Federal Reserve has updated their expected launch timing for real-time payments - FedNow instant paymentservice is expected to go live in 2023.  If you really want to geek-out, here is the link to FedNow as part of FRBservices.org.

 

• BNPL firm Klarna announced that they are experiencing tremendous growth in the US including doubling over last year to a record 15 million customers and is accelerating with “more than 1 million US customers joining Klarna each month since October 2020”.

 

• And we simply can’t allow a week to go by without mentioning another SPAC deal, so here it is - Payoneer goes public after SPAC acquisition valued at $3.3B by FTAC Olympus Acquisition Corp.  Payoneer has a pretty cool Investor Presentation deck (I like these presentations a little too much).

 

• LendingClub (NYSE: LC) completed its acquisition of Radius Bank.

 

• Startup Paybby acquires Wicket to enter into minority bank offerings.

 

• Clarity Money, purchased in 2018 by Goldman Sachs for $100M, is set to be shut down on March 5th as GS focuses on Marcus Insights.

 

• Narmi announced that they raised $20.4M Series A funding.

 

• FinTech startup Fair raises $20M and expects to launch in April following a beta period for family and friends in March.

 

• Just when you think you have seen it all, check out the startup TreeCard (coming soon)….  Yes, they appear to have the World’s first wooden debit card!  The core of the card is made from recycled plastic bottles and the exterior is made from sustainably sourced cherry wood.  I’m digging it!

 
We produced an internal white-paper about a week ago titled “Reassessing the Value of a Bank Charter”.  It was fun putting that together; and we always get a chance to have some good campfire conversations when we produce these reports.  One of the cool concepts that came out of it was the changing landscape of digital customer experience (CX, UX, Personalization, or whatever buzz word you want to apply) - specifically related to school aged children that are successfully completing their tasks remotely with Zoom meetings and deadlines….  And we thought Millennials changed the landscape – wait until these kids are a little bit older.  There will be a whole new set of demands and expectations.
 
Random Uncle Sean Stuff:

• We will be firing up the big smoker (good ole Nelly) for Super Bowl weekend and cooking chicken, sausage, and tri-tip.  God bless America!!!!
• Did you know that Catfish The TV Show has nothing to do with actual catfishing?  I wasted half an hour waiting to see what lake they were going to…  If you listen closely right now, you can literally hear my 16 year old daughters embarrassment – LOL!
• Have you seen the Chickasaw Nation PPE face masks?  You should definitely check this out on Instagram.  They distributed PPE to all of their citizens and people are posting pics of themselves from all over the US wearing their Chickasaw Nation face masks - very cool!!!! 

 
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 smayo@fedfis.com | 214-604-6961 – or you can contact FedFis Sales Team at 512-960-0911 | info@fedfis.com#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.