Happy Friday & Happy Halloween 🐈‍⬛🎃🦇!!!
 
We will be pausing the Uncle Sean Update next week due to our annual community bank and fintech conference, The Roundup powered by FedFis data – I hope to see you there 🤠!!!  In the meantime don’t forget to sign up here for free to receive the Uncle Sean Update delivered straight to your inbox.  Here is the Uncle Sean Update for 10/31/25:

• 🎉 I am super excited to announce that Bedel Security has renewed their sponsorship of Bankers Helping Bankers (BHB)!!!  Way back in the beginning - Bedel Security was one of the first to partner with BHB in our shared vision to help community banking – not just survive but thrive. 🫶 💪
  • “Bedel Security believed in us before the world knew who we were,” said Matthew Smith, CEO of Bankers Helping Bankers. “They stood beside us when this mission was just taking shape—and they’ve never wavered. Their renewal reminds every banker that true allies don’t just show up when it’s easy; they show up when it matters.”
    • So definitely check out Bedel Security and tell them Uncle Sean sent you!!! 😉

 

• It’s Fed Week!!!  As was widely expected, the FOMC voted to lower the fed funds rate by 25 bps to 3.75% - 4% and to end quantitative tightening (the reduction of its securities holdings) on Dec 1.
  • A couple of noteworthy comments from Chairman Powell (bold emphasis added by Uncle Sean):
    • “In the near term, risks to inflation are tilted to the upside and risks to employment to the downside—a challenging situation. There is no risk-free path for policy as we navigate this tension between our employment and inflation goals.”
    • “In the Committee’s discussions at this meeting, there were strongly differing views about how to proceed in December. A further reduction in the policy rate at the December meeting is not a forgone conclusion—far from it.”
    • Regarding the lack of data due to the continued government shutdown… “what do you do if you're driving in the fog? You slow down.”
  • And as always, here is the link to Chairman Powell’s Press Conference transcript (27 pages) and the Press Conference video (54:50)

 

• Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has confirmed that the five finalists to succeed Jay Powell as Federal Reserve chair are NEC director Kevin Hassett, Fed governor Christopher Waller, former Fed governor Kevin Warsh, BlackRock's Rick Rieder and Fed governor Michelle Bowman.

 

• 👀 Infinant continues to win big!  This week Valley National Bank (FDIC 9396; total assets $63B; Nasdaq: VLY) announced it is partnering with Infinant to scale the bank’s Partner Banking and embedded finance capabilities by leveraging Infinant’s Interlace platform – infinant.com/platform.
  • I have to wonder – do the folks over at Infinant ever sleep???  They are on a roll!!

 

• LoanPro announced the launch of its Model Context Protocol (MCP) model-agnostic gateway enabling “LoanPro clients and partners to begin testing and developing their AI-powered credit servicing and collections initiatives, while ensuring regulatory guardrails and auditability.” 🚀
  • “Unlike basic chatbot integrations that stop at the recommendation layer, MCP acts as a secure protocol between any AI model and LoanPro’s core platform…”

 

• SkyOne Federal Credit Union (charter 6248; total assets $928M) selects Lumin Digital as its new digital banking provider for its 60,000+ members.

 

• Ascend Federal Credit Union (charter 7397; total assets $4.6B) launched their new BNPL program powered by equipifi for its 260,000+ members.

 

• 👉 Check out Qolo’s big announcement this week as The Huntington National Bank (FDIC 6560; total assets $210B) partners with Qolo to deliver a next-generation treasury solution for Huntington’s commercial clients.  Huntington’s Connected Deposits platform, their new ledgering and Virtual Account Management (VAM) platform, is designed to meet the evolving needs of commercial banking clients by enabling real-time cash visibility, streamlined reconciliation and scalable sub-account management – powered by Qolo’s flexible technology stack. Great win for the Qolo Team! 🤙

 

• Alogent partners with Vine to accelerate commercial lending workflows for banks and credit unions. “The collaboration integrates Vine’s AI-powered lending platform with Alogent’s AccuAccount loan management system, creating a unified document workflow that spans from application to post-close.”  Nice!!! 👏

 

• 💥 Uptiq (AI infrastructure for financial services) had a couple of announcements this week:
  • Tyfone has partnered with Uptiq’s enterprise AI platform to deliver actionable business insights for financial institutions that use Tyfone’s nFinia® Business Digital Banking Platform.
  • Uptiq.ai raised $12M in capital to drive large-scale adoption of Uptiq Qore, the company’s next-generation AI infrastructure platform for banks, credit unions, wealth managers, and fintech companies – enabling “financial institutions to build production-grade AI applications and agents in weeks, not months.”

 

• Carefull announced the launch of GreyMatter, its proprietary AI intelligence layer built to detect, prevent, and predict the complex risks of aging and money (elder fraud prevention) – helping financial institutions support older adults and next-generation financial caregivers.
  • This statistic really caught my attention, “30% of age-adjusted revenue at financial institutions is controlled by depositors and clients with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI).”  Check it out at getcarefull.com/greymatter! 👏

 

• FinWise Bancorp (Nasdaq: FINW; bank subsidiary is FinWise Bank; FDIC 35323; total assets $900M) announced a program management, network issuer processor and servicer agreement with Tallied Technologies, Inc. to deliver credit card products and card processing solutions to Fintechs, their businesses, and their customers.

 

• nbkc bank (FDIC 35014; total assets $1.2B) enhances its BaaS suite with Interchecks modern payments platform to deliver faster and more flexible payments.
  • “ This collaboration enhances nbkc's BaaS platform by integrating Interchecks' instant payment technology, enabling fintechs and non-bank innovators to deliver seamless "push-to-card" disbursements, sending funds directly to customers' debit cards in real-time, without the delays of traditional payment rails.”

 

• Best Egg (currently servicing about $11B in personal loans) was acquired by Barclays (UK bank) for $800M to expand Barclays’ U.S. consumer banking presence.

 

• Some personnel moves:
  • Integris hires Kyle Wewe as its new Chief Revenue Officer.
  • equipifi names Karen Buell as COO per this LinkedIn post.
  • Dave appoints Parker Barrile as Chief Product Officer.
  • Fiserv announced multiple updates to leadership team and board refreshment including Takis Georgakopoulos promotion to Co-President, the hiring of Dhivya Suryadevara as Co-President, and Paul Todd joins as the new CFO.

 

• Notable FinTech funding for the week:
  • SavvyMoney (consumer financial wellness and growth solutions for FI’s) raised $225M in capital as a minority investment stating it has nearly “doubled its institutional footprint to over 1,500 partners since 2021 while expanding its digital banking capabilities through new product offerings and strategic acquisitions like CreditSnap, which now powers intelligent loan origination, deposit, and account onboarding solutions.”
  • Lettuce (fintech platform targeting self-employed and solopreneurs) raised $28M in Capital to expand its AI-powered operating system; and acquired Besolo, a benefits startup, for additional healthcare options and other benefits.

 
 
Random Uncle Sean stuff:

• PSA – Don’t forget to turn your clocks back 1 hour this weekend (technically at 2AM on Sunday, Nov 2) as we move from Daylight Savings Time (DT) to Standard Time (ST).  Of course, if you are in Hawaii or Arizona you are exempt from daylight savings time – so you don’t have to do anything. 🕰️
• The World Series is proving to be much more competitive than I originally expected.  Game 6 kicks off tonight at 7 CDT on FOX with the Toronto Blue Jays leading the series 3-2 putting the Los Angeles Dodgers in a must-win position (on the road nonetheless) to make it to Game 7.
• And of course, the obligatory Dad / Bad Jokes for the week:
  • Me – I should put a bowl of Halloween candy in my office in case anyone wants some…
    • Also me – Working from home… Alone... 🎃🍬😋
  • For our son, Marshall…😉 They’re called “deviled eggs” because the voices whisper and say... “go ahead and eat 25 of them”… 🤠
  • I got a job as a model…. I’m the “before” picture. 😂🤣
  • They say nothing is impossible, but I’ve been doing nothing all day (crushing it)!!! 😏😎
  • If by free spirits you mean an open bar, then YES – I love free spirits!!! 🍸🍷

 
 
Have a Happy Halloween, 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

​Happy Friday!!!
 
Don’t forget to sign up here for free to join 18,000+ of your peers and get the Uncle Sean Update delivered straight to your inbox every week – all the cool kids are doing it 😊!  Here is the Uncle Sean Update for 10/24/25:
 

• A virtual fist-bump 👊 top my friends at FinPro as they renew their sponsorship of Bankers Helping Bankers (BHB)!!!
  • Definitely check them out at finpro.us (and tell them Uncle Sean sent you).  From their time series liquidity and scorecard models, strategic planning, and their consistent work with regulators and policymakers – their impact on community banking is profound.

 

• Speaking of Bankers Helping Bankers…  Be sure to reserve your spot here - https://luma.com/Q32025InsideTheNumbers for the 3Q2025 BHB Inside the Numbers webinar next week featuring special guest, Mr. Dory Wiley from Commerce Street Holdings as we unpack early call report data, discuss macroeconomics, M&A, and anything else we might dive off into!!!  This is going to be great (I hope I don’t geek out too much, but NO PROMISES – LOL!!!). 😊

 

• While we continue to endure the government shutdown and resulting data void (FOMC meeting is next week), we finally get a sliver of macroeconomic data due to Social Security law requiring a CPI measure to calculate cost-of-living adjustments…
  • The BLS Sept CPI data (10 days late due to the shutdown) came in a tad lower than expected (woohoo) at 0.3% for the month and 3.0% YoY (expectation was 0.4% and 3.1% respectively; August CPI was 0.4% and 2.9% respectively) with Core CPI at 0.2% for the month and 3.0% YoY (expectation was 0.3% and 3.1% respectively; August Core CPI was 0.3% and 3.1% respectively). CNBC has a good summary.
  • As a result, the Social Security Administration announced a 2.8% benefit increase for 2026 and has averaged about 3.1% over the last decade.

 

• 👉 Vantage Bank Texas (FDIC 3405; total assets $4.7B) has launched a turnkey and accretive tokenized deposits and stablecoin platform for community and regional banks nationwide utilizing Custodia's bank-grade blockchain platform and Infinant's Interlace platform (Infinant has really been on roll over the last several months!!!).
  • For more detailed info, check out this really cool FAQ page from Vantage Bank - Tokenized Deposits are Coming. 🚀

 

• Academy Bank (FDIC 19600; total assets $3.1B) selects Cable compliance platform to help Academy Bank to effectively and compliantly grow its fintech partnerships as well as its core client base by enabling complete automation of control testing across the BSA regulatory framework. 👏

 

• 👀 Going international ✈️🌎…  Early Warning Services, the network operator of Zelle®, announced a new initiative for Zelle to deliver cross-border money movement by leveraging stablecoins.
  • Early Warning Services CEO Cameron Fowler stated, "Our goal is to bring the trust, speed and convenience of Zelle to consumers' international money movement needs. We're investing where consumer need, bank capability and global opportunity intersect. With improved regulatory clarity in the U.S., we can focus on what we do best: driving innovation to market."

 

• Done deal… 
  • CSI has completed its acquisition of Apiture digital banking solution.
  • Centerbridge Partners completes its acquisition of MeridianLink end-to-end digital lending platform.

 

• Bead (payments company specializing in the acceptance and settlement of digital asset and digital wallet transactions) selects Lead Bank (FDIC 8283; total assets $1.7B) as its sponsor bank.

 

• Suncoast Credit Union (charter 68645; total assets $19B) selects Bloom Credit's "Bloom+" platform allowing its members to report up to five recurring bill payments (such as rent, utilities, phone bills, etc.) directly from their checking account to the credit bureaus to build or improve credit without incurring debt. 👍

 

• Lumin Digital continues to crush it – this week Sierra Central Credit Union (charter 68053; total assets $1.5B) selects Lumin Digital as its new digital banking provider.

 

• More CU news…  Mambu targets US credit unions with “composable banking” core system to help credit unions move beyond legacy core systems, modernize their infrastructure, and deliver next-generation digital experiences to their members.

 

• Treasury Prime and U.S. Bank (FDIC 6548; total assets $671B) announced mutual partnerships together:
  • Treasury Prime joins the U.S. Bank Connected Partnership Network, an online marketplace of “fintech and other third-party payment and treasury solutions that are fully integrated with U.S. Bank systems.”
  • “The partnership also adds U.S. Bank to Treasury Prime’s Bank Network, which now includes more than 15 leading financial institutions. With Treasury Prime’s OneKey product, fintechs and enterprises can seamlessly connect to multiple banks through a single API integration – reducing implementation complexity and accelerating speed to market.”

 

• Worldpay signs an exclusive agreement to power payment processing for Kroger’s in-store, online, and mobile transactions.

 

• 💥 Bank M&A continues to roll full steam ahead…  This week we saw 4 more deals involving target banks over $1B in total assets; and the Texas trend continues with 11 Texas banks being acquired (announced) since 7/1/25 (source - FedFis Bank M&A database):
  • 10/20 – HBT Financial to acquire CNB Bank Shares (bank subsidiary is CNB Bank and Trust; FDIC 3775; total assets $1.8B)
  • 10/22 – Farmers National Banc Corp. to acquire Middlefield Banc Corp (bank subsidiary is The Middlefield Banking Company; FDIC 13716; total assets $1.9B)
  • 10/22 – Third Coast Bancshares, Inc. to acquire Keystone Bancshares, Inc. (bank subsidiary is Keystone Bank, SSB; FDIC 34456; total assets $1B)
  • 10/23 – Nicolet Bankshares, Inc. to acquire Midwestone Financial Group, Inc. (bank subsidiary is MidWestOne Bank; FDIC 14843; total assets $6.2B)

 

• Notable FinTech Funding for the week:
  • Clerq (Pay-by-Bank / A2A checkout platform) raised $21M in Capital including a $12M Series A and showcasing “6x revenue growth” over the prior 12 months.
  • Kard (modern rewards network) raised $15M in growth capital.
  • Ava (consumer credit-builder app) raised $15.5M seed round to scale its platform.

 
 
Random Uncle Sean stuff:

• ⚾ It’s set…  The Toronto Blue Jays and the Los Angeles Dodgers will face off in the World Series with game 1 starting tonight!

• ICYMI, the 15-hour AWS outage 😬 on Monday is a reminder of concentration risk from a solution that was originally intended (at least in part) to mitigate local disaster recovery risks.
• 🏈 The Oklahoma Sooners college football schedule for the second half of the season may be the toughest in the country as they face #8 Ole Miss, @ #17 Tennessee, @ #4 Alabama, #15 Missouri, and close it out against #20 LSU…  WHEW!!!
• We made it!!!  Here are the Dad / Bad Jokes for the week:
  • Apparently, cats can hear 4 to 5 times farther than humans can – which makes it all the more impressive when they totally ignore you! 🐱
  • I used to teach origami.  Gave it up because of too much paperwork! 😅
  • I want to lose weight, but I don’t want to get caught up in one of those “eat right and exercise” scams! 🏋️‍♂️
  • I’m in big trouble if people find out I don’t really have Tourette’s…. 🤠

 
 
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
 
 

Happy Friday!!!
 
It was a shorter week for many due to Columbus / Indigenous Peoples’ Day, but still some notable headlines.  Here is the Uncle Sean Update for 10/17/25 (click here to subscribe for FREE):
 

• ❤️ Uncle Sean is happy to report that Smiley Technologies has renewed their Sponsorship of Bankers Helping Bankers (BHB)!!! 🎉
  • “Smiley Technologies lives and breathes community banking, and their renewal is proof of that commitment,” said Matthew Smith, CEO of Bankers Helping Bankers. “Their support helps us keep building the safe space where bankers connect, innovate, and fight for the future of Main Street.” 🚀

 

• 👀 UFS (core banking, digital, payment solutions, and advisory services) continues their push into managed IT services with the acquisition of BankOnIT in support of the evolving IT needs of community FI’s. Check out their cool video to hear from their leadership on how the partnership brings enhanced value to community banks.
  • This follows the acquisition of Safe Systems (another IT managed services provider) back in Aug of 2024. At that time, Safe Systems served about 260 FI’s and gave UFS a footprint of about 400 FI’s for IT and security services.

 

• 😲 Wow – that was fast!!! The OCC has granted preliminary conditional approval of the de novo bank charter for Erebor Bank, National Association on Oct 15th. Erebor Bank plans to “target its products and services to technology companies and ultra-high-net-worth individuals that utilize virtual currencies. The Bank plans to offer a variety of lending and deposit products and other related services. The Bank plans to hold non-asset backed virtual currencies on balance sheet…” 
  • Based on this Erebor Bank, N.A.: Charter Application dated June 11, 2025, this approval was granted in roughly 4 months (yes that’s super-fast; particularly for a national bank involved in novel activities – i.e. crypto-asset related activities – AML anyone??? 😬). Keep in mind that FDIC approval is still pending…

 

• Okay…  Here comes an Uncle Sean “Off the Rails” moment, so feel free to scroll down… 😊
  • I originally wasn’t going to comment on this, but I will… 😁 I’m already tired of hearing about “cockroaches” in the NDFI / private credit markets.  No disrespect intended towards Mr. Jamie Dimon (who started the cockroach commentary in response to JPM losses stemming from Tricolor and First Brands fraud related bankruptcies), but he is paid extremely well to be the Nation’s Chief Pessimistic Risk Officer. 🙄 And I am assuming that his cockroach comment may have been more directed at his own staff more than the market as a whole.
    • These were instances of fraud – NOT systemic asset quality problems that the broader media seems to be loathing for… Yes, there were two other non-related fraud issues this week as well (I think that makes 4).  The $ amounts are not inconsequential but are also not largely material considering the specific bank equity capital positions, credit loss reserves, and resulting market cap losses this week for those publicly traded banks.  Certainly worth keeping an eye on; and impacted banks (as well as others) are undoubtedly reviewing their NDFI concentrations as well as underwriting processes and portfolio monitoring for improvement (as they should). But this is not a systemic asset quality meltdown moment as the broader media is intent on portraying (in my unsolicited opinion).
  • 👉 The existence of NDFI lending is not within itself a catalyst for alarm as there are many other variables to consider related to credit structure and collateral. Remember your bond underwriting classes – it’s not just Probability of Default (PoD), but Loss Given Default (LGD) that matters.  That’s precisely why loan structure, reserves, collateral, and hedging are so important – and bankers are largely damn good at this. 🏆 But that doesn’t stop knee-jerk market reactions… 🤷‍♂️
  • This Banking Dive article is a great summary of events with a TD Cowen analyst referencing NDFI concerns as the “topic du jour.” This too shall pass… 😊

 
A bit of a deeper dive here as “open banking is dead…  Long live open banking…” but from an aggregator context as a Consumer Reporting Agency:
 

• Plaid announced the launch of LendScore credit risk scoring model (1-99 score) utilizing real-time cash flow data and unique financial account connection insights to supplement traditional underwriting / credit scores. Targeting cashflow analytics for subprime and near-prime “drove a10-20% relative risk reduction” without reducing originations.
  • The big takeaway here (to me anyway) is the inclusion of network insights, “which provides context on the types of apps someone is connected to on the Plaid Network, within a certain time period, and how long they’re active on each service.” Stating that the model picks up on early indicators of changing financial habits and emerging risk.
    • Recall where Plaid already provides Consumer Report powered by Plaid Check, which is Plaid’s Consumer Reporting Agency, allowing lenders to integrate cash flow data into their lending workflows via secure API and no-code dashboard.

 

• ICYMI last week… Yodlee also entered the Consumer Reporting Agency arena with the launch of Yodlee Credit, LLC.

 

• For more info on cashflow analytics, check out Jason Mikula of Fintech Business Weekly recorded episode How Modern Lenders Leverage Cashflow Analytics featuring EDGE and MX (emphasis on sizeable data lake, maintenance, and innovation – with credit bureaus providing look-back data while cash flow analytics is more real-time designed as a supplement; as well as credentialed versus non-credentialed data and some good op-ed at the end regarding open banking). 👍
  • Food for thought… I know this is a little bit of a different spin, but does anyone else remember the launch of Chase Media Solutions by JPMorgan back in early April 2024….??? 🤔

 
And now back to the rest of the Update 😊:
 

• Galileo (Sofi’s tech platform) joins the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Partner Network. Businesses across industries can now leverage Galileo’s platform on AWS to build, launch, and scale modern financial experiences.
  • Sandy Weil Chief Revenue Officer at Galileo stated, "By joining the AWS Partner Network, we’re meeting businesses where they already are, making it faster and easier for them to access our financial technology and bring new financial products to their customers." Galileo’s API-based platform handles everything from card issuance and real-time transactions to fraud prevention and embedded payment capabilities. 💥

 

• 👉 Circle K (yes, the nationwide convenience store) leans into embedded finance with their strategic partnership with Car IQ (vehicle-based payment technology) to launch Circle K Pro Digital+, a digital fleet fuel spend platform with virtual cards all accessible from the mobile app (instant driver onboarding and offboarding). Accepted at Circle K, other major fuel brands, toll networks, and anywhere Visa is accepted. 🚚
  • Check it out at Digital+ | Circle K Pro.

 

• More payments headlines… And the flex 💪 of the week… The RTP® network, instant payments system operated by The Clearing House, set a new single-day record by processing 1.8M transactions valued at $5.2B on Oct. 3 reflecting “the growing adoption of instant payments by financial institutions, businesses, and consumers who are seeking faster, more reliable money movement.” 🚀

 

• First Internet Bank of Indiana (FDIC 34607; total assets $6B) partners with Parlay Finance to deploy Parlay’s AI-native Loan Intelligence System allowing the bank’s SBA lending operations to eliminate manual tasks and gain deeper insights for loan decisioning. 👏

 

• BankJoy (digital banking provider for CU’s, banks, and neobanks) partners with InvestiFi to provide digital investing opportunities for BankJoy’s FI customers to offer to their members.

 

• Notable FinTech funding for the week:
  • Nova Credit (credit infrastructure and analytics) raised $35M in Series D funding round.
  • Telcoin (seeking to become the first federally regulated digital assets bank in the U.S.) raised $25M as part of an ongoing pre-series A round. The funding enables Telcoin to meet capital requirements for its conditionally approved Nebraska Digital Asset Depository Institution charter (ref Feb 2025 article - Telcoin Granted Approval to Open Nebraska’s First Digital Asset Bank).
  • Upgrade (responsible consumer credit and banking products) raised $165M in Series G at a $7.3B valuation. The company has been focusing on home improvement and auto financing, areas that surpassed $2B and $1B, respectively, in total cumulative loan originations earlier this year.
  • Deel (global HR and payroll platform) raised $300M in Series E at a whopping $17.3B valuation marking “the company’s third straight year of profitability and its first $100 million revenue month. Earlier this year, the company surpassed $1 billion in annual recurring revenue. Deel now serves 37,000+ businesses and 1.5 million workers across 150+ countries, processing $22 billion in payroll annually.”

 
 
Random Uncle Sean stuff:

• 🎃 It’s that time of the year!!!  Congrats to Brandon Dawson of Santa Rosa, CA for winning the 52nd World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off with a gourd weighing in at 2,346 pounds!  Gonna’ need a chainsaw to carve up that jack-o-lantern!!! 😊
• Okay – let’s wrap it up with some Dad / Bad Jokes:
  • Here lately, my daily exercise routine consists of running out of patience. 🤠🏃‍♂️‍➡️
  • Parmesan cheese is really just spaghetti confetti! 🍝 😋
  • For my daughter, Claire 🫶…  The best place for learning is the hippocampus… 🧠👩‍🎓😅
  • And last but not least a shout out to my IT and developer friends… 
    • “DevOps reality” - no matter how hard you try to make something idiot proof, eventually a better idiot will come along (I feel personally attacked)!!! 😂🤣

 
 
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 10/10/25 (click here to subscribe for FREE):
 

• “Wreck ‘Em!!!” 🤠  Shoutout to E.W. & J. D. Williams Institute for Community Banking at Texas Tech as they renew their Friends of BHB Sponsorship!!! 👏
  • "By renewing our commitment as a Friends of BHB sponsor, we’re further aligning with BHB’s vision to equip future leaders with the knowledge and resources they need to address the challenges and opportunities facing community banks," said Jeff Mercer, Executive Director of the Williams Institute and Executive Director of the Texas Tech School of Banking at Texas Tech. "Our ongoing collaboration is a perfect example of how education and real-world solutions can come together to drive transformation within community banking."  Uncle Sean love’s this!!! 😊🎉

 

• 👀 Another Texas bank gets acquired…  Huge bank merger announcement this week with Fifth Third (FDIC 6672; total assets $209B) to acquire Texas-based Comerica Bank (FDIC 983; total assets $78B) in an all-stock transaction valued at $10.9 billion – WOWZA!!! 💰
  • This  Fifth Third Investor Presentation deck is well done showing the combined entity footprint in 17 of the 20 fastest-growing markets in the country.

 

• 👉 I have written about Charlie before regarding their target niche banking solution which is pretty cool (fintech banking platform targeting the 62+ age group – banking services provided by Sutton Bank).  Now they are definitely stepping up their game.  Check out their new page (https://ai.charlie.com/) that allows you to show your loved ones how easy it is for fraudsters to create a deepfake scam (raising awareness) – by creating your own AI-generated video message.  Very nice!!! 👍

 

• And so it begins…  Bank of North Dakota (the Nation’s only state-owned bank, so no FDIC cert, but listed as $10B in total assets) partners with Fiserv’s (NYSE: FI) digital assets platform (announced in June along with a new white-label stablecoin, FIUSD) to launch the "Roughrider Coin", North Dakota’s first stablecoin.  Fully backed by U.S. dollars, the Roughrider coin will be the first U.S. state stablecoin to launch on the Fiserv digital asset platform. 🚀

 

• FIS (NYSE: FIS) announced a strategic partnership with Glia (AI-powered banking interactions) to deliver “advanced AI-powered customer engagement capabilities across FIS' Digital One suite of retail and business banking products.”

 

• East West Bank (FDIC 31628; total assets $78B) and Worldpay sign a long-term agreement to give East West Bank commercial and business clients access to “Worldpay’s industry-leading payment tools — including point-of-sale, smart terminals, omnichannel, eCommerce, and loyalty solutions — designed to help businesses grow with confidence and operate more efficiently.”

 

• Bud Financial (AI platform that turns banking data into actionable insights) announced the launch of Bud Model Context Protocol (MCP) Server enabling banks to “rapidly deploy AI internal and customer facing systems while leveraging their core customer data.”

 

• Live Oak Banking Company (FDIC 58665; total assets $13.7B) partners with infinant’s embedded finance solution to “deliver an elevated standard for managing partner programs on a bank-grade ledgering platform to meet regulatory and compliance demands.” 👏

 

• West Virginia Central FCU (charter 24888; total assets $316M) teams up with InvestiFi to bring digital investing solutions to its 23,000+ members across West Virginia and Ohio.

 

• Credit Union of America (charter 60062; total assets $1.7B) partnered with equipifi to bring  BNPL to its suite of digital products for its 100,000 members.

 

• Imprint (modern co-branded credit card platform) to power the new Crate & Barrel and CB2 Visa Signature® Card issued by First Bank & Trust (FDIC 3973; total assets $4.7B).

 

• Copper Banking (teen banking platform) rebrands as GenAspire after being acquired by Black Dragon Capital and is now focused on partnering with credit unions as a white-label solution for pioneering financial education for the next generation. 🤙
  • In a separate announcement, Open Banking Solutions (OBS), also a Black Dragon Capital company, announced its partnership with GenAspire to provide white-labeled financial education solution to CU’s that are utilizing the OBS next generation core platform featuring integrated digital banking, account opening capabilities, workflow engines, management dashboards, and reporting tools, designed to grow with its users.

 

• Some big personnel moves this week:
  • ICBA promotes Wayne Miller to Executive Vice President and Chief Innovation Officer – Congrats!!!! 🎉
  • The U.S. Department of the Treasury announced that Social Security Commissioner Frank Bisignano will also serve as Chief Executive Officer of the Internal Revenue Service, a newly created position reporting directly to Treasury Secretary and Acting IRS Commissioner Scott Bessent.
    • Frank was previously President and CEO at Fiserv before being nominated as Social Security Commissioner.
  • Congratulations to Andres Pasantes and his promotion to President and CEO of Engage fi succeeding Jenn Addabbo (co-founder and CEO) as she transitions to Executive Chair of the Board.

 

• Yendo (secured credit card based on automobile equity as collateral – issued by Cross River Bank) raised $50M in Series B round to “accelerate Yendo’s expansion beyond secured lending as it builds an AI-powered digital bank for the millions of Americans underserved by traditional financial institutions.”  The company is preparing for a wave of launches in 4Q2025 as they build out an inclusive digital bank platform.

 
 
Random Uncle Sean stuff:

• 🏈🏈🏈 College football at its finest…  It’s OU vs Texas weekend with gametime set for 2:30PM CDT on Saturday, Oct 11 on ABC / ESPN!!!  The rivals face off for the 121st time in the Red River Rivalry.  The game has been held at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas during the Texas State Fair since the 1930s.  UT leads the series 64-51-5, but OU has a 17-9 record in the 21st century.  Check out these video clips to bring goosebumps (the player POV coming out of the tunnel is awesome)!  BOOMER SOONER!!!!

• PSA (the accountant in me had to bring this up) alert…  The IRS released the 2026 tax inflation adjustments including tax tables, limits on deductions and credits, and amendments from the One, Big, Beautiful Bill.
  • Speaking of the IRS….  If you filed an extension for your 2024 taxes, the extension deadline of 10/15/25 is fast approaching…  😬
• Okay – let’s wrap it up with some Dad / Bad jokes for the weekend:
  • Remember – the only thing worse than a bucket full of snakes… is a bucket that was supposed to be full of snakes… 🐍😮
  • Bologna is just hot dog pancakes. 🌭😅
  • For a song called “Piano Man” someone really should tell the guy with the harmonica to chill… 🎹🤠
  • And last but not least….
    • I was staring at my naked body in the mirror and thought. “I’m gonna get kicked out of this IKEA pretty soon.” 😂🤣

 
 
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!!!
 
There is a lot going on this week, so let’s jump right in!!!  Here is the Uncle Sean Update for 10/3/25 (click here to subscribe):
 

• Kicking off with a HUGE shoutout 🎉 and lots of love 🫶 to my friends at DCI as they renew their sponsorship of Bankers Helping Bankers (BHB)!!!
  • “DCI is woven into the history of community banking innovation,” said Matthew Smith, CEO of Bankers Helping Bankers. “Their renewal with BHB is more than sponsorship—it’s a signal that the champions of community banking are all-in on this movement.”  🚀

 

• On the macroeconomic side…  Well…  The government shutdown is in full effect…  So, no Sept Jobs Report from the BLS…  🙄  However, had there been one – the expectations were +43,000 expected, +22,000 previously (prior to revisions); Unemployment rate 4.3% expected, 4.3% previously.

 

• 🤔 Coming to America (not unexpected, but certainly newsworthy)…  Nubank (NYSE: NU) applies for U.S. National Bank charter with the OCC. 
  • Founded in 2013 and headquartered in São Paulo, Nubank has rapidly grown to become one of the world’s largest digital financial services platforms, serving nearly 123 million customers across Brazil, Mexico and Colombia.

 

• 👀 More big news in embedded finance as Core Processors continue with acquisitions!  Jack Henry (Nasdaq: JKHY) just announced they have acquired Victor (the embedded finance / BaaS subsidiary of MVB Bank focused on direct-to-core embedded payments solutions).
  • “This acquisition advances our technology modernization strategy to help banks and credit unions compete and win through innovative, cloud-native solutions,” says Jack Henry President and CEO Greg Adelson. “Offering a proven, high-volume embedded payments platform that is highly scalable creates diverse revenue streams, enhances our capabilities, and provides more immediate opportunities to deliver emerging services like stablecoin.”
    • The article goes on to state that, “The PaaS market is expected to grow from $19.1 billion in 2025 to $43.9 billion in 2029 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 23.1%, according to Research and Markets.”

 

• But wait, there’s more 😊...  Next up is Fiserv (NYSE: FI) announcing a definitive agreement to acquire StoneCastle Cash Management (deposit network platform for enhanced deposit insurance for individual, commercial, and government depositors; and a stable funding solution for FI’s).
  • “Acquiring StoneCastle is an important step forward in our strategy to help financial institutions optimize their balance sheets, which will enable them to do more in the communities they serve,” said Andrew Gelb, Head of Financial Solutions at Fiserv.  The PR also states “Fiserv plans to leverage StoneCastle’s platform to help financial institutions retain funds associated with FIUSD stablecoin issuance…”
    • This comes on the heels of these additional Fiserv acquisition announcements:
      • 9/25 - Fiserv Expands Advisory Services for Financial Institutions with Acquisition of Smith Consulting Group.
      • 9/4 - Fiserv Expands Clover Offerings for Hospitality with CardFree Acquisition.

 

• Circling back to MVB…  MVB Bank (FDIC 34603; total assets $3.2B) partnered with Aeropay (pay-by-bank provider) to enhance Aeropay’s payment infrastructure by integrating MVB Bank's expertise in managing complex ACH and Real-Time Payments (RTP).

 

• 👉 Worldpay leans into BaaS infrastructure and announced the launch of their Embedded Finance Engine to help software companies deliver seamless business banking products to their users.  The new platform includes embedded lending, banking, and commercial card issuing with plans to expand capabilities over the coming months.  Check it out at Embedded finance | Worldpay for Platforms. 💥

 

• Checkout.com becomes the latest to apply for a Merchant Acquirer Limited Purpose Bank (MALPB) charter through the State of Georgia Department of Banking and Finance.  The charter would give Checkout.com direct access to US card networks allowing it to act as its own acquirer.
  • If approved, Checkout.com would join the ranks of Fiserv and Stripe with the Georgia limited purpose charter.  This Payments Dive article has a good summary.

 

• Linker Finance announced a strategic partnership with Advanced Fraud Solutions (AFS) to integrate consortium-powered fraud intelligence into Linker Finance’s business banking solution. 👏

 

• Fruitful announced their launch of Money Map, the first automated financial product that transforms personal advice into action with a single click.  Money Map automatically sets up accounts, funds routing rules, and automated transfers across bills, spending, saving, and investing.  Nice!!!

 

• Stripe teams up with Open AI to help launch a new commerce experience called Instant Checkout in ChatGPT.  “Starting today, ChatGPT users in the US can buy goods from US-based Etsy businesses—and, coming soon, over a million Shopify merchants, like Glossier, Vuori, Spanx, and SKIMS—directly in the chat” via the Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP), a new, merchant-friendly open standard codeveloped by Stripe and OpenAI.

 

• InvestiFi partners with Horizon Utah Federal Credit Union (charter 24746; total assets $180M) to bring InvestiFi’s full suite of digital investing solutions to HCU’s 12,000 members.

 

• Wealthfront makes their S-1 public for their upcoming IPO which the company intends to list on Nasdaq under the ticker “WLTH.”
  • Per the filing, Wealthfront had $88.2B in assets on its platform and served 1.3M customers as of July 31.  Additionally, the company posted a very strong $194.4M in net income on $308.9M in revenue during in fiscal 2025 (which ended on Jan. 31).
  • This CNBC article is a pretty good summary.

 

• Some personnel moves:
  • LawFi named Doug Hathaway as Co-Founder and CTO/CPO.
  • ModernFi reappoints Rodney E. Hood to its Board of Directors following Mr. Hood’s service as Acting Comptroller of the Currency.
  • DailyPay named existing Chairman Nelson Chai as CEO.

 

• Notable FinTech funding for the week:
  • Baselane (banking and financial platform for RE investors) raised $20M in Series B following their previously unannounced $14.4M series A.
  • Notable (pay-at-close financing for home sale prep) raised $6M in Series A funding round.

 
 
Random Uncle Sean stuff:

• So here’s some cool news.  I am heading down to the greater Austin area to hang out with my brother Davey and his family this weekend!!!  On the agenda is college football, campfires, food (maybe even some adult beverages), and plenty of stories… 
  • Speaking of stories…  When we were younger (until I was about 5 or so), Dave and I shared a bedroom while our older brother had his own room.  Well, we got some bunk beds and (even though Dave was older) I absolutely HAD to have the top bunk – because of course at 5 years old it was absolutely imperative that I establish my dominance as a man (LOL) to my brother who was 9 years older than me. 😅  Dave eventually conceded and let me have the top bunk…  And naturally I was too much of a man at the ripe age of 5 to keep that sissy protection railing on there….  Yep, you guessed it…  I fell out of that top bunk.  Not just once, but on a nightly basis for a long, long time due to an already abundance of stubbornness and hard-headedness (it’s a family tradition – and the hard-headed part may be the only thing that kept me alive 🤣).  In case you are wondering, YES, that is a terrifying way to wake up as you feel yourself going over the side (dreams of falling are nothing compared to the reality of waking up while falling – I am literally crying laughing as I am writing this 😂🤣)!!!  After the first handful of times, this became such a nightly occurrence that the shock and trauma eventually wore off; and literally became a nightly ritual.  I think I remember that we ended up putting some pillows on the floor to soften the blow.  I begged him not to tell Mom because I knew she would freak out and not let me sleep on the top bunk anymore LMAO!!!  Of course Dave confided in keeping my secret safe (gee – thanks??? HAHAHA!).  And he would simply give me a blanket (while I was lying on the floor) and I would go back to sleep.  Ahhh, boys will be boys and brothers will always be brothers. 😊✌️
• Thought I would mix it up a bit this week and focus on the perks, drawback, and not-so-subtle signs of aging…  So, here are the “aging” themed Dad / Bad jokes:
  • In a hostage situation, you are likely to be released first… 👍
  • People no longer view you as a hypochondriac… 😅
  • Kidnappers are not very interested in you… 😊
  • There is nothing left to learn the hard way… (I feel targeted by this one) 🤠
  • Carpe diem = Seize the day…  Imodium = Don’t sneeze today!!! 😬😲😆
  • And last but not least…  One of the best signs of aging is if you have ever had to ask yourself, “why am I the only naked person at this gender reveal party???” 🤷‍♂️🤣

 
 
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!!!
 
Celebrating the first week of Fall and some cooler temps finally!!! 🎃🍂  Here is the Uncle Sean Update for 9/26/25 (click here to subscribe):
 
Some quick economic data:
 

• 3rd (and final) estimate of 2Q25 GDP jumped up to 3.8% (estimate was 3.3%) with a big jump in real final sales to private domestic purchasers (kind of like “core GDP’) to 2.9% - all buoyed by consumer spending.

 

• The BLS August PCE came in as expected across the board at 2.7% YoY (2.6% last month) and 0.3% for the month with Core PCE at 2.9% YoY (same as last month) and 0.2% for the month.  This CNBC article states that the report further indicates that President Trump’s tariffs have had only a limited pass-through effect so far on consumer prices.

 

• Government shutdown?  Yep – here we are again…  Congress has just days left to pass a stopgap bill to keep the government fully funded past Tuesday, 9/30. 🙄

 

• Uncle Sean’s take (not that anyone asked 😊)… 
  • With all of the above (especially Congress not getting their job done 😠) – keep an eye on 9/30 closing in the bond market as this will be the new measuring stick (post FOMC rate cut) for unrealized losses in securities for 3Q reporting.

 
Back to the rest of the Update:
 

• FIS (NYSE: FIS) acquires Amount strengthening FIS’ account origination position for banks and CU’s “with a market-leading unified solution with embedded AI functionality for deposits, lending, and card solutions to support consumers and small and midsize businesses (SMBs).”
  • Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The PR stated that the “acquisition aligns with FIS’ strategy to add innovative, cloud-native and modular solutions to drive greater value for its clients across the money lifecycle.”
  • 👉 Recall last week where we talked about FIS’ Bank Modernization Framework (labeled as “core-agnostic”) and associated core banking modernization whitepaper.

 

• Fiserv (NYSE: FI) acquires Smith Consulting Group (SMG) expanding on its’ advisory services for banks and CU’s that are seeking guidance on their strategic direction and investment related to core processing and surrounding solutions.
  • “The addition of SCG reinforces Fiserv’s position as a leading provider of core banking and advisory services, enhancing the firm’s ability to deliver end-to-end transformation for community banks and credit unions.  SCG consulting services will span DNA, Signature, Bank Intelligence and other Fiserv banking platforms.” (bold emphasis added by Uncle Sean)
    • “SCG supports banking software system conversions and implementations, as well as consulting services focused on core, teller, customer service and call center platforms, online and mobile banking, and various other interfaces. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

 

• Finastra announced the launch of its modern ACH payment solution enabling them to now support all US payment clearings – ACH, wires, and real-time payments, within a unified payment hub, Finastra’s Global PAYplus.
  • The Finastra ACH Module includes “same-day ACH, early pay, and late return handling, while offering rich APIs for operational control and integration. Its user-friendly interface, enhanced scalability, and the ability to handle large-scale transaction volumes make the solution easily adaptable to meet the unique needs of both large and small financial institutions.”

 

• Virtual high-five 🙌 to R&T Deposit Solutions as they entered into an agreement with Citizens Bank, N.A. (FDIC 57957; total assets $218B), which will serve as their new custodian and settlement bank for the DDM® and CDMX℠ Programs per this LinkedIn post from their CEO, Susan Cosgrove.  Nice!!! 😊

 

• And a shout-out to our friends at InvestiFi…  Remember back in late July where Illiana Financial Credit Union partnered with InvestiFi for a full suite of investing tools for its members?  Well, this LinkedIn post states that Illiana Financial CU is now live with all three of InvestiFi’s digital investing products (securities, guided investing, and crypto) through their CU*Answers platform.  Congrats on a quick and successful implementation!!! 👍

 

• Congrats to the Vine Team as Crest Savings Bank (FDIC 28818; total assets $568M) selects Vine Financial and their AI-powered platform to support the banks entire commercial lending platform streamlining the full commercial loan lifecycle. 💥

 

• Axos Bank (NYSE: AX; FDIC 35546; total assets $24B) acquires Verdant Commercial Capital for $43.5M enhancing the banks existing equipment leasing business; and provides additional cross-sell opportunities for commercial deposits and floorplan lending in several diversified industry verticals.

 

• Flex of the week 💪 goes to Klarna as they announce 1 million US signups in just 11 weeks for their debit-first Klarna Card.  “Americans are signing up for the card at a rate of 13,000 a day, hitting a peak of 50,000 sign-ups on 23 September.”  Wow!!!!

 

• 👉 Speaking of flexing and BNPL…  equipifi (a direct FI solution as opposed to third-party leakage out of the FI) continues their impressive FI market expansion in the BNPL space with a pair of Texas announcements this week.  equipifi’s BNPL solution is available for both online and mobile for qualifying debit purchases to be split into installments for both pre- and post-purchase flexibility.  Be sure to check them out at equipifi.com and tell them Uncle Sean sent you! 🚀
  • Gulf Coast Educators FCU (charter 5648; total assets $1.2B) selects equipifi for their in-house BNPL solution for their 60,000 members.
  • Education First FCU (charter 24470; total assets $600M) selects equipifi in-house BNPL solution for their 32,000 members.
  • And congratulations 🎉 to my friend Joe Swint (okay, he’s pretty much everyone’s friend – LOL) as a new Account Executive at equipifi!  Let us know if there is anything we can help you with here at FedFis, Joe.  And happy belated birthday too!!! 🤠🎂

 

• Fold Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: FLD) announced the upcoming launch of the Fold Bitcoin Rewards Credit Card (Visa) powered by Stripe.  This adds to Fold’s fintech offerings including the Fold App, Gift Card, and Visa Prepaid Debit Card issued by Sutton Bank.

 

• Bolt (checkout, identity, and payments platform) announced the official launch of its all-in-one SuperApp bridging the fiat-crypto gap and giving users a unified way to shop, spend, save, earn and invest.
  • Banking services provided by Midland States Bank.  Crypto infrastructure is powered by Zero Hash.

 

• Couple of odd headlines for my counterparty / third-party risk superfreaks (like me 😊):
  • Ridin’ The Storm Out (yes, that’s a nod to REO Speedwagon)…  Keep an eye on storms in the Atlantic as Imelda could dump heavy rain early next week over the Southeastern coastline.
  • This is not good…  Air Force cyber leader warns threats against US operational technology networks are growing – emphasizing US military concerns about the vulnerability of critical infrastructure to China-backed actors (particularly Volt Typhoon and Salt Typhoon) that have had persistent access in critical information, key resources (CIKR) for five years.

 

• Some personnel moves:
  • Pipe named Vijay Vachani as Chief Revenue Officer.
  • Ncontracts appoints Sonja Tsiridis as Chief Technology Officer.
  • Lendio hires Joanna Fankhauser as Chief Operations Officer.

 

• Notable FinTech funding for the week:
  • Cardless raised $60M in Series C funding round.

 
 
Random Uncle Sean stuff:

• A new species of bird in San Antonio region?  Indeed.  While no “official” name has been assigned, it is being informally referred to as a “Grue Jay” – a cross between a male Blue Jay and a female Green Jay.  Per this University of Texas research report, the new hybrid species is unique as it “may be among the first examples of a hybrid animal that exists because of recent changing patterns in the climate. The two different parent species are separated by 7 million years of evolution, and their ranges didn’t overlap as recently as a few decades ago.”
• Say it isn’t so!!! 😭 Long-term local “watering hole” in New Braunfels is set to close….  After27 years, Faust Brewing Co. will permanently close on October 31, 2025. 🍺
• Here are the Dad / Bad Jokes 😊:
  • Every salad can be a Caesar salad if you stab it enough… 😲😅
  • I bought a new boomerang…  But how exactly do I throw the old one out? 🪃🤷‍♂️
  • It doesn’t matter what temperature the room is…  It’s always room temperature. 🙄
  • And last but certainly not least…..
    • Redneck (or FinTech Cowboy) word of the day is “Twerk.”  As in, “Imma have two more beers, then it’s back twerk.” 🤣🤠❤️

 
 
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!!!
 
It was certainly an exciting week – but first…  Don’t forget to tell your friends to sign up here for FREE to join over 18,000 of their peers in having the Uncle Sean Update delivered straight to their inbox every week! 🤠 Here is the Uncle Sean Update for 9/19/25:
 

• It’s Fed Week!!!  As widely expected, the FOMC voted to reduce rates by 25 basis points to 4.0% - 4.25%.  For me, it was kind of a benign meeting since this was so widely expected.  However, I did find this CNBC full interview with Fed Governor Stephen Miran (20:22) related to his dissent and outlier on SEP to be very interesting (and very professional and respectful).  Fed Governor Miran noted that he will be giving a speech this coming Monday describing a full accounting of his economic outlook.
  • For more info, here is:
    • Chairman Powell’s press conference transcript (26 pages)
    • The always entertaining Summary of Economic Projections
    • Full video of the FOMC Press Conference September 17, 2025 (52:14)

 

• 👉 Thread Bank (FDIC 9499; total assets $800M) partners with LoanPro to enhance lending operations with LoanPro’s API-first modern lending and credit platform.
  • Per the PR, “The LoanPro system of record will standardize both internal community bank lending programs and external embedded finance lending programs, making this partnership the first of its kind for sponsor banking data allowing Thread to innovate faster while ensuring compliance” 💥 (bold emphasis added by Uncle Sean).  Check out LoanPro’s impressive API-first platform here - Loan Management Software | LoanPro.
  • 👀 Bankers Helping Bankers (BHB) played a pivotal role in facilitating this partnership, bringing together aligned institutions and helping to identify the right technology fit to support long-term growth.
    • This comes just a few weeks after Thread Bank selects Finxact from Fiserv to power embedded banking strategies; where BHB also played an instrumental role in fostering the expansion of the relationship and formalizing the shared vision between Thread Bank, Fiserv, and Infinant. 🚀

 

• Speaking of Bankers Helping Bankers…  Uncle Sean gives a HUGE shout-out to InvestiFi as BHB's newest Premier Sponsor supporting community banks!!! 🙌🎉 Be sure to check out InvestiFi’s InvestTech platform at https://investifi.co/ - allowing for trading to and from deposit accounts, enabling community banks and CU’s to retain more assets and attract new account holders.

 

• Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) raises U.S. Minimum Hourly Wage to $25, increasing starting salaries to more than $50K – making good on their 2017 pledge to hit $25 by 2025.
  • With the increase to $25, starting salary for full-time U.S. employees at the bank will have gone up by more than $20,000 since 2017.

 

• 🤔 JPMorgan Chase (JPMC) and Plaid announced an extension to their data access agreement for sharing of consumer permissioned data…  Details of the agreement or the fee structure was not disclosed.
  • This Banking Dive article (Plaid to pay for JPMorgan data) reiterated that many in the fintech space were (and still are) quite alarmed back in July when JPMC informed them of substantial new fees to access consumer data the bank had previously transmitted without cost.
    • Just speculating here, but I would expect to see similar agreements with the other top banks and fintech firms needing to access customer data…

 

• 💪 Flex time…  This week it is Zelle® Hits New Highs in the First Half of 2025 with 2 billion transactions (a 19% increase) and a dollar volume of nearly $600B (up by 23%).

 

• Another Texas bank acquisition…  National Bank Holdings Corporation (NYSE: NBHC, FR 3973888), bank subsidiary is NBH Bank (FDIC 59052; total assets $10B), to acquire Vista Bancshares, Inc. (PCO FR 1135897), bank subsidiary is Vista Bank (FDIC 1210; total assets $2.4B) for approximately $369.1M in a mixed deal of cash and stock.
  • A quick sort in the FedFis M&A database shows 10 announced deals in Texas since June 1, 2025 – with half of those deals coming from out of state suitors.

 

• 👀 FIS (NYSE: FIS) leans into banking modernization by announcing their proprietary Bank Modernization Framework empowering “financial institutions to tailor their modernization journeys to their current needs, allowing them to begin with any part of their technology stack, whether it’s digital channels, data and AI, or open banking integrations.”
  • The solution, labeled as “core-agnostic,” enables banks to bypass traditional “rip and replace” approach and modernize incrementally as desired – anywhere along the tech stack.
    • More info can be found here in this core banking modernization white paper by FIS.

 

• Mercantile Bank (FDIC 34598; total assets $6.1B) selects Jack Henry (Nasdaq: JKHY) core processing platform.

 

• First Fed Bank (FDIC 28405; total assets $2.2B) launches Apiture's Business Banking solution (in the process of being acquired by CSI) for online and mobile banking for its business customers.

 

• Savers Co-operative Bank (FDIC 26455; total assets $788M) partners with Narmi via their Narmi Grow platform to drive new customer acquisition and streamline its digital account opening processes.

 

• Wolf & Company, P.C. (national CPA and advisory firm) announced a strategic partnership with Cable to integrate Cable’s real-time control testing capabilities into Wolf & Company's trusted network of recommended technologies for financial institutions.  👏
  • "Partnering with Wolf & Company was an obvious choice, given our shared customer base and the increased value that we can bring to banks and credit unions by working together to automate compliance testing. We are excited to get our industry-leading technology in the hands of their exceptional team," said Natasha Vernier, Cable CEO.  🙌

 

• And more compliance partnering…  Hummingbird and Thomson Reuters Special Services (TRSS) have partnered together to deliver an integrated compliance solution that accelerates customer screening with AI-enhanced workflows.
  • “By combining TRSS LincsConnect™ AI-powered screening capabilities with Hummingbird’s unified risk and compliance operations platform, teams can reduce manual work, dramatically cut false positives, and focus on the risks that matter most.”  NICE!!!! 😊

 

• Clair and Intuit (Nasdaq: INTU) announced the availability of Clair On-Demand Pay (EWA originated by Pathward®, N.A.) as part of Intuit Enterprise Suite and QuickBooks Payroll on the Intuit platform.

 

• LawFi® announces Cordell & Cordell® as Key Partner for its limited Florida rollout offering a legal fee financing solution.  The partnership will enable Cordell & Cordell to gain early access to the platform and provide valuable feedback to shape the final statewide release.

 

• Notable FinTech funding for the week:
  • Stablecore (infrastructure platform enabling banks and CU’s to offer stablecoins, tokenized deposits, and digital asset products) raised $20M in capital.
    • Led by Norwest and with participation from Coinbase Ventures, Curql, BankTech Ventures, Bank of Utah, EJF Ventures, Bankers Helping Bankers (BHB) Fund and the backing of more than 200 limited partner financial institutions and others, this news comes at a crucial time following the passage of the GENIUS Act in July 2025.
  • SEON (AML compliance and fraud prevention platform) raised $80M in Series C funding.
  • Splash Financial (AI-enabled lending marketplace) raised $70M in Series C round.
  • Extend (infrastructure platform enabling banks to offer expense management solutions for their business customers) raised $20M in new capital and hires Francois Horikawa as CFO (was previously Head of Finance for PayPal’s consumer business unit).
  • PayNearMe (payment acceptance and processing platform) raised $50M in Series E and renamed its platform to PayXM™

 
 
Random Uncle Sean stuff:

• Remembering Robert Redford who passed away this week at the age of 89…  An Oscar-winning actor, director, founder of the Sundance Film Festival and The Redford Center (both of those links have great pics and tributes to Robert Redford) for climate change and the environment – and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Obama in 2016.
  • My all-time favorite is Jerimiah Johnson (“can you skin Griz, pilgrim?”) followed closely by The Natural, A River Runs Through It (directed by Redford), and Spy Game.
• You made it!!!  Here are the Dad / Bad Jokes 😊:
  • ICYMI (for my mathemagician friends ❤️🤓🏆)….  9/16/25 was Pythagorean Day…  9/16/25 = (3²+ 4²= 5²) or 9+16=25.
  • A guy I went to school with 40 years ago contacted me to complain about the time I put superglue on his pen…  He just can’t let it go… 🤠
  • Dad Law - You’re not really yawn-stretching if you don’t include crazy dinosaur noises… 🦕🦖
  • Contortionists are not good scuba divers…  You know, because of the bends… 🤿🙃

 
 
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!!!
 
It was a relatively light week in the news (yay, finally!) – so let’s get to it!  Here is the Uncle Sean Update for 9/12/25 (click here to subscribe):
 
A quick personal note…  The events of this week as well as the remembering of 9/11 serve as a reminder that life can change in an instant.  Making the world a better place begins with each and every one of us in our daily lives.  So please work hard but enjoy life, smile & hug those around you, and above all – strive to be kind and helpful in everything we do 🙏❤️.
 

• With all eyes on the FOMC meeting next week, the BLS August CPI Report came in just a smidge over expectations for the month at 0.4% (0.3% expected with last month at 0.2%) brining YoY CPI at 2.9% which was exactly as expected (2.7% last month).  Core CPI came in at 0.3% bringing YoY Core CPI to 3.1% (both exactly as expected and both flat compared to last month).
  • With softening in the labor market (we talked about this last week), most analysts are predicting a 25 bps dovish rate cut.  We’ll know more next Wednesday; and the Summary of Economic Projections should prove to be interesting.

 

• Big merger announcement this week as PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE: PNC; FR 1069778), bank subsidiary is PNC Bank, NA (FDIC 6384; total assets $555B), announced a definitive agreement to acquire FirstBank Holding Company (FR 1060627), bank subsidiary is FirstBank (FDIC 18714; total assets $26.8B), in a mixed deal of cash and stock valued at $4.125B. 💰💰💰
  • More info can be found in this Investor presentation deck by PNC.

 

• More merger info – this time in the card space…  Atlanticus Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ: ATLC) announced it has acquired Mercury Financial LLC near-prime credit card platform for $162M in cash.  The Mercury Financial acquisition brings 1.3M card accounts and $3.2B in receivables to Atlanticus – growing their total portfolio to over 5M accounts and $6B in receivables.

 

• Green Dot Bank (FDIC 22653; total assets $4.8B) adds Stripe as Green Dot Network Partner.  “Powered by Green Dot’s embedded finance platform, Arc, Stripe Treasury will allow users to quickly and conveniently add cash to their accounts at any of Green Dot’s more than 50,000 money processing locations nationwide, with additional enhancements and capabilities planned for the future.”

 

• 👀 ICYMI…  A bipartisan bill has been introduced by Senators Bill Hagerty (R-TN) and Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD) proposing deposit insurance reform – specifically to raise federal insurance coverage for noninterest-bearing business accounts to $20M for IDI’s under $250B in total assets.  The bill filed as S.Amdt. 3649 to the FY2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) can be viewed here.

 

• CSI partners with HuLoop to bring HuLoop’s AI-based Work Intelligence Platform to banks on CSI’s NuPoint® Core Banking System. 

 

• 🤔 Fifth Third Bank, N.A. (NASDAQ: FITB; FDIC 6672; total assets $209B) replaces BNY as Direct Express partner with the 5-year term beginning Sep 9th. 
  • Although BNY was originally selected for the Direct Express prepaid card program last November (replacing Comerica), the Treasury Department’s Fiscal Service Bureau replaced BNY with Fifth Third due to “readiness challenges” of one of BNY’s providers. 😬

 

• 👉 As has been anticipated, the Federal Reserve Financial Services will increase the FedNow® Service network transaction limit from $1M to $10 million to meet increased demand, unlocking higher-value use cases effective Nov 2025.
  • Keeping in mind that FedNow had just recently raised the transaction limit from $500K to $1M effective Jun 24, 2025.
  • This follows The Clearing House RTP Network transaction limit increase from $1M to $10M beginning Feb 9, 2025.

 

• Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers gaining traction… 
  • This week, Personetics (AI-driven cognitive banking platform) launches MCP Server enabling banks to develop and deploy Agentic AI applications “including financial behavior analysis, predictive analytics, and contextual engagement frameworks—through a secure, scalable server environment. This empowers financial institutions and fintech innovators alike to craft personalized, proactive Agentic AI experiences that guide customers toward smarter financial decisions.”
    • Recall last month where Grasshopper Bank, N.A. (FDIC 59113; total assets $1.3B) launched a first-of-its-kind Model Context Protocol (MCP) server from Narmi that will allow its business clients to access personalized financial analysis and insights through Claude, Anthropic's advanced artificial intelligence (AI) assistant.

 

• Taktile announced the launch of fully customizable AI agents enabling SMB lenders to “process 5x more loans without adding headcount – eliminating bottlenecks and freeing underwriters to focus on high-value, strategic decisions.”

 

• Uber Eats to provide revenue financing capital solution to its restaurant small business customers via Pipe.

 

• Piercing the corporate veil (although not entirely unexpected)…  FINRA has charged former Synapse execs with misconduct that allegedly led to end users losing access to over $100M. 
  • The allegations include failure “to reasonably supervise” Synapse Brokerage’s cash management program including the movement of customer funds without adequate authorization from customers; and failure to preserve books and records required by FINRA (specifically, email communications, instant messages and electronic communications of Synapse Brokerage or Synapse Fi personnel) as well as allegedly providing false information to FINRA about Synapse Brokerage’s access to its books and records. 😲

 

• Some personnel moves:
  • FinPro welcomes Jonathan Finley as Executive Vice President of Regulatory Matters per this LinkedIn post.  Congrats to Jonathan AND my friends at FinPro!!! 👏
  • Marqeta promotes Mike Milotich as permanent CEO.  Milotich has served as CFO since 2022 and interim CEO since Feb.
  • Varo Bank hires Asmau Ahmed as Chief Artificial Intelligence and Data Officer (CAIDO) reporting directly to CEO Gavin Michael.

 

• Notable FinTech funding for the week:
  • Rainforest (embedded payment processing) raised $29M in Series B funding round.
  • Aven (credit platform via home equity) raised $110M in Series E round at a $2.2B valuation.
  • Highbeam (embedded finance platform for ecommerce / brands) raised $30M in Series A round
  • Mazlo (fintech banking platform for non-profits) emerged from stealth with $4.6M in capital stating gross profit growth of nearly 4x over the last 12 months and zero churn to date.

 
 
Random Uncle Sean stuff:

• Texas State University sets an all-time enrollment record with more than 44,700 students for Fall 2025 - WOW!!!  Fun fact – about 40% of the FedFis Team are Texas State Alumni (including yours truly)!  And my daughter just started her junior year there!  Eat ‘Em Up Cats!!!! 🚀
• Yes – bring on the Dad / Bad Jokes to close this week out:
  • Nothing embarrasses psychics more than throwing them a surprise party! 🤣
  • The biggest problem with retirement is you typically have to get old to do it! 🤷‍♂️👴
  • Did you hear about the dyslexic zombie???  He only eats Brians… 🧠🙃🧟
  • How do you console an English teacher???  There, their, they’re…. 😉
  • I woke up this morning determined to drink less, eat right, and exercise…  But that was 6 hours ago – back when I was younger and full of hope! 🤠😅

 
 
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 National Payroll Week with a HUGE thank you 🙏 to all payroll professionals because without payroll, EVERYTHING else is pointless!!! Here is the Uncle Sean Update for 9/5/25 (click here to subscribe):
 
A quick peek at some economic data as we look forward to the next FOMC meeting scheduled for Sept 17-18…  Keep in mind that a “soft landing” is representative of a long slow protracted process with the proverbial “last mile” taking the softest glide slope (kind of smells like we are there 😊):
 

• Jobs, jobs, jobs data may trump inflation (umm – no pun intended… okay, maybe 😊)…  The job market certainly appears to be “cooling” as expected, but many economists still see the numbers as pretty good historically speaking (particularly pre-covid).  Markets are signaling this is likely enough to warrant a rate cut.
  • The BLS August Jobs Report came in surprisingly light at +22,000 [(+75K expected, +79K for July (revised up by 6K - see revision history with June revised down -13K); Unemployment rate at 4.3% (4.3% expected, 4.2% July); Average hourly earnings were up 0.3% month-on-month (0.3% expected, 0.3% July); Average hourly earnings year-over-year came in at 3.7% (3.8% expected, and a slow-down from July 3.9%).

 

• Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve Beige Book - August 2025 showed economic activity to be… well… beige 🤠.  With little or no change in economic activity, citing flat to declining consumer spending as wages were failing to keep up with rising prices (see jobs report above), and continued tariff uncertainty.

 
And back to the rest of the update… 😊
 

• 👏 Acceleron continues their growth trajectory and distribution strategy by announcing a new partnership integration with Aptys Solutions (digital payment platform serving over 5,500 FI’s – NICE!!!) with a fully automated and simplified end-to-end solution making international wires more efficient and profitable for community banks and credit unions. 🚀
  • Banks and credit unions on the Aptys PayLOGICS platform can now access international wires instantly.
  • No more manually keying into a separate correspondent system.
  • Acceleron’s SmartRoute™ delivers pricing transparency and drives down FX costs.

 

• Late last Friday, the NCUA liquidated Members First of Maryland Federal Credit Union (charter 24855; total assets $21.9M, 3,638 members) citing “…insolvency was imminent, and the credit union had no prospect for restoring viable operations.”  Aberdeen Proving Ground Federal Credit Union of Edgewood, Maryland (charter 2540; total assets $2.5B) immediately purchased some assets and assumed Members First of Maryland FCU’s share accounts.
  • Worth noting there hasn’t been a CU failure with total assets greater than $50M since 2018… 🤔

 

• A Pair of U.S. Bank (FDIC 6548; total assets $671B) announcements this week targeting small businesses:
  • U.S. Bank launched an all-In-one Cash Flow Management Platform for small businesses called U.S. Bank bill pay for business - a single intuitive accounts payable solution, integrated with business checking and online banking platform with the ability to easily sync with accounting software.
    • U.S. Bank collaborated with two fintech companies to bring this solution to life, integrating Fiserv’s CashFlow Central℠ solution, built in partnership with Melio, within the U.S. Bank online banking platform.
  • U.S. Bank also launched a new embedded payroll solution for small businesses powered by Gusto.

 

• More Fiserv headlines (NYSE: FI) as they acquire CardFree to enhance the capabilities of Clover® to “support small businesses as they grow into larger, multi-location merchants with complex technical needs.”

 

• Airwallex (business payments platform) to acquire OpenPay to boost its position against Stripe and create “the first truly global billing platform.”

 

• PeoplesBank (FDIC 90213; total assets $4.3B) completes their migration to cloud-native Nymbus Core. 
  • Interesting to note that the relationship between Nymbus and PeoplesBank began in 2020 when the bank selected Nymbus to power its direct digital bank, ZYNLO Bank.
    • 👀 Perhaps even more interesting to me is that the previous core processor for PeoplesBank had a ‘core strategic’ relationship - meaning it was the same bank tech vendor for core, online, and mobile.  Very difficult to break into from a third-party bank tech vendor perspective.  Enter ZYNLO as the Trojan Horse / land and expand strategy for Nymbus. 😉

 

• 👉 Is cash flow-based consumer underwriting now table stakes???  I’ll let you decide after seeing Nova Credit posting a series of high profile headlines this week:
  • First up is Socure and Nova Credit Partner to Expand Credit Access by bringing Nova Credit’s FCRA-compliant cash flow underwriting solution, Cash Atlas™, into Socure’s RiskOS™ platform, the industry’s most open and extensible risk decisioning solution.
  • Then PayPal selects Nova Credit to power U.S. cash flow underwriting across its growing portfolio of consumer credit products.
  • And finally, the bombshell announcement…  Nova Credit Solutions to be utilized by Chase to power its cash flow underwriting capabilities to enable Chase to serve more customers across the U.S. who have limited credit history or are underserved by traditional credit models. 💥

 

• equipifi joins the Jack Henry™ Fintech Integration Network integrating equipifi’s BNPL platform with SilverLake System through jXchange™ - enabling financial institutions using SilverLake System to quickly launch a state-of-the-art in-house BNPL program.

 

• Synctera teams up with LoanPro to enable FinTech companies, banks, and sponsor banks to launch innovative and flexible credit cards to suit their customer’s unique needs.

 

• MANTL (loan and deposit account opening) partners with Taktile (next-generation AI-driven credit underwriting and programmable decisioning platform) to transform credit decisions for community banks and credit unions.  “With the new integration, financial institutions can launch, test, and update credit policies that will be implemented in MANTL workflows in real time, without relying on engineering resources or third-party vendors.”  Nice!

 

• And the IPO market gets hot 🔥:
  • Figure is looking to raise $526M at a valuation of up to $4.13B.
  • Gemini targeting to raise approximately $317M at a $2.2B valuation.
  • Klarna is seeking to raise $1.27B in revived IPO.

 

• Some personnel moves:
  • Panacea Financial (direct digital bank division of Primis) promotes Brandon Finazzo to Chief Growth Officer.  Finazzo has served as Head of Practice Solutions for over four years.
  • Temenos CEO Jean-Pierre Brulard steps down with immediate effect.  Current Temenos CFO, Takis Spiliopoulos, has been appointed by the board as interim CEO while it searches for a permanent successor.

 

• Notable FinTech funding for the week:
  • Flex (HSA and FSA payment service provider) raised $15M in Series A funding round to enable health and wellness brands to accept HAS and FSA payments.
  • ModernFi (deposit network program for banks and credit unions) raised $30M in Series B funding to “accelerate adoption across financial institutions, expand its team, and deepen integrations with digital banking and core providers.”  Check out their:
    • National Bank InterDeposit Company (NBID), launched in 2025 in collaboration with participating banks, now includes banks representing more than 40 percent of the existing reciprocal deposit market.
    • ModernFi CUSO, the first-of-its-kind network for credit unions, launched in 2024, and has already grown to serve more than 75 leading credit unions in the country.
  • Lead Bank (BaaS sponsor bank; FDIC 8283; total assets $1.7B) raised $70M in Series B at a $1.47B valuation!!!
    • 👀 Look past the current $132M Tangible Book Value and focus on these performance metrics - YTD ROE of 13%, Yield on Loans of 15%, and NIM of 8.9% (source FedFis bank analyst platform; 6/30/25 call report) - WOWZA!!!! 🚀
  • And just in case you missed it….  Anthropic raised a gigantic $13B Series F round at a mind-numbing $183B valuation… 🤯
    • “Anthropic has seen rapid growth since the launch of Claude in March 2023. At the beginning of 2025, less than two years after launch, Anthropic’s run-rate revenue had grown to approximately $1 billion. By August 2025, just eight months later, our run-rate revenue reached over $5 billion—making Anthropic one of the fastest-growing technology companies in history.”

 
 
Random Uncle Sean stuff:

• The second peak hummingbird season (fall migration) is in full force here in East Texas!!!  Aunt Patty and I have two feeders out (each take about a cup of sugar water) and we are having to fill them both up about every two days right now.  It’s vey common to see three at a time at the feeder and sometimes up to five at a time jockeying for position.  They are so much fun to watch this time of year.  They are like little fighter pilots - love it!!! ❤️
• We made it – here are the Dad / Bad Jokes for the week:
  • People who think “talk is cheap” clearly haven’t spent much time with a lawyer… 🫤🙃
  • At my age, I’ve come to accept the fact that I may never be old enough to know better! 😅
  • “Criteria”, [krī-tîr′ē-ə], noun: Where sad people go to eat.. 🤠
  • And saving the best for last….
    • It takes a lot of balls to play golf the way I do… 🏌️‍♂️⛳😆

 
 
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, & Hello College Football 🏈 – we’ve missed you!!! 
 
Be sure to sign up here to have the Uncle Sean Update and Fintech Cowboys delivered straight to your inbox every week (with 18,000+ subscribers - it’s cooler than a Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift engagement party 🤠)!!!  Here is the Uncle Sean Update for 8/29/25:
 
On a personal note…:
I am proud to share that I have just completed my 5th straight year presenting as a Guest Lecturer at Mays Business School - Texas A&M University with their Commercial Banking Program (my presentation was on sponsor banks and embedded finance).  While I am always impressed with the energy and engagement of these young professionals, something happened this year that was really cool and made a lasting impression on me!  When talking about Direct Digital Banks (a division of a chartered institution), I asked them to look up BADASS BANK (“banking for badasses”) on their laptops as an example of niche / target marketing of a direct digital bank brand.  The students came alive and were laughing, nodding their heads in approval, and showing each other pics (the Pink Card was a hit).  Within about 2 minutes they were also sharing pics of the Sturgis Rally (where Badass.Bank is a sponsor) and absolutely loved the Badass Sturgis survival guide links.  The excitement in the room was electrifying and certainly made that part of my presentation an easy success – and one to remember!

• Badass.bank is a division of Stryv Bank (FDIC 21955; total assets $258M) and powered by DCI.  Based on the response of these young professionals entering the commercial banking world – Badass Bank has hit a marketing home run! 👍

 
Okay – back to the rest of the Update 😊:

• 2QGDP (second estimate) came in at 3.3%, up from the initial estimate of 3.0% for second quarter.  The increase in estimate was primarily due to upward revisions to investment and consumer spending that were partly offset by a downward revision to government spending and an upward revision to imports.
  • Note that “real final sales to private domestic purchasers” (kind of like core GDP) was revised up from 1.2% to 1.9%.

 

• The BLS July PCE Report came in exactly as expected across the board at 2.6% YoY (estimate was 2.6% and last month was 2.6%).  Core PCE came in at 2.9% (estimate was 2.9% and last month was 2.8%). Consumer spending increased 0.5% on the month, in line with forecasts and indicative of strength despite the higher prices. Personal income accelerated 0.4%.

 

• 👉 Thread Bank (FDIC 9499; total assets $800M; embedded finance and BaaS sponsor bank) selects Finxact from Fiserv to power embedded banking strategies.
  • Bankers Helping Bankers (hey - I know those folks! 🤠) played an instrumental role in fostering the expansion of the relationship and formalizing the shared vision between Thread Bank, Fiserv, and Infinant.
    • Finxact’s API-first approach, combined with Fiserv’s experience in compliance, becomes a powerful and scalable solution by leveraging Infinant and their Interlace Platform as the embedded banking layer for Finxact’s API core.  This provides Thread Bank and its customers a modern user interface to access and manage Thread’s embedded and core banking capabilities along with payment processing - serving as a blueprint model for community banks. 🚀

 

• And another CU acquisition of a bank…  This week we have Land of Lincoln Credit Union (charter 63716; total assets $478M) to acquire Williamsville State Bank & Trust (FDIC 12388; total assets $97M).  Some additional Uncle Sean details:
  • Note that Land of Lincoln has been a serial bank acquirer as this is their 3rd announced acquisition of a bank (4/28/23 Nokomis Savings Bank; 12/22/22 Colchester State Bank).  All small banks with less than $100M in total assets and an emphasis on Illinois market expansion (branch footprint) for the CU.
    • Williamsville State Bank & Trust is concentrated in 1-4 mortgages, but only has a loan to deposit ratio of 33.56% - resulting in a substantial $43M securities portfolio for their size (total assets $97M).  All securities are listed as AFS so AOCI (mark-to-market securities adjustment) is already accounted for in total equity of $9.8M.
    • Williamsville Bank &Trust also has a low-cost deposit base of $86M at 1.15% total Cost of Funds – very attractive to the CU.
  • If you are keeping score, this is the 11th announced CU acquisition of a bank thus far for 2025 (whole bank acquisition).  This compares to 22 for 2024, 11 in 2023, 16 in 2022, 13 in 2021, 7 in 2020, and 16 in 2019 (source: FedFis M&A database).

 

• 👀 CSI announced Michel Jacobs as its new Chief Strategy Officer.  Jacobs brings more than three decades of strategic financial technology, digital banking and payments experience to CSI, where he will be a key driver of the company’s enterprise-level strategy via market expansion, strategic M&A activities, business diversification and value creation initiatives.

 

• Sightline Payments partners with Cross River Bank to create Sightline Debit – “a frictionless, customer-centric experience that streamlines both spending and wagering. This not only lowers payment costs for operators by minimizing the constant churn cycle of withdrawals and deposits, it also gives patrons access to their own funds anytime, anywhere, and in any way, in their own personal FDIC insured bank account.”

 

• The FDIC released their Quarterly Banking Profile Report - Second Quarter 2025.  A few key points:
  • Net Income decreased by about 1% from last quarter due to a larger provision expense due to the Capital One and Discover merger (absent this large provision expense, net income would have increased).
  • Unrealized losses on securities continues to shrink (improve), although still at a massive $395.3B (decreased $17.9B or 4.3%).
  • The DIF is fully funded at 1.36% and now exceeds statutory minimum.
  • NIM remained flat over 1Q.  Asset Quality remains favorable.  Loan Growth accelerated; and Domestic Deposits increased for the fourth consecutive quarter.
  • The total number of banks on the list decreased by a net of four in the second quarter to 59 banks. The number of problem banks is 1.3 percent of total banks, which is in the middle of the normal range for non-crisis periods of 1 to 2 percent of all banks.
    • For reference, our FedFis Rating© is tracking 66 banks in the lowest 1% scoring 3.90 or higher (on a 1.00 – 5.00 scale with 1.00 being best).

 

• Yep, Uncle Sean loves this! 😊  Marshall Community Credit Union (MCCU; charter 62160; total assets $350M) partners with local High School on Fin Ed and launched MCCU’s “CU in School” program and a student-run credit union branch at Battle Creek Central High School (BCCHS). 👏  The credit union added that the student-run branch will open during the 2026/27 school year and will serve as an internship opportunity for two high school seniors enrolled in the Business, Engineering, and Industrial Technology (BEIT) Academy.
  • “CU in School”…  That is fantastic!!!!! 💥

 

• Narmi partners with Atomic to bring direct deposit switching and payroll connectivity to banks and credit unions using the Narmi One digital banking platform.

 

• Hanmi Bank (FDIC 24170; total assets $7.8B) selects Lenders Cooperative to support the bank’s commercial and SBA lending operations across the United States.
  • As part of Hanmi Bank’s “Simple Loans” initiative in major markets including Los Angeles, Dallas, Atlanta, New York, and Chicago, the adoption of Lenders Cooperative’s platform will allow the bank to automate loan workflows, enhance internal efficiencies, and accelerate access to capital for businesses nationwide.

 

• 👏 Congrats to Battle Bank as the Fed Approves Battle Financial to Form Bank Holding Company, acquisition of Stearns Bank Upsala, N.A. to Launch Battle Bank N.A.
  • “From day one, we’ve been building a different kind of bank — one that is built on similar ideas and values and not constrained by location,” added Rick Rule, a lead investor in Battle Financial, Inc. “Now that the regulators have given us the green light, we’re ready to deliver.”  To learn more or sign up for the Waitlist, visit: www.battlebank.com

 

• Prove (in the red-hot digital identity space) announced a partnership with FNBO (FDIC 5452; total assets $31.6B) to modernize customer onboarding.
  • “By leveraging the Prove - Pre-Fill identity verification solution, FNBO is revolutionizing its customer onboarding process for co-branded cards to a seamless, secure, and digital-first experience.”

 

• MANTL announced the launch of MANTL Bulk Account Opening to help Fi’s open multiple retail or business accounts through a single application.
  • “In particular, MANTL Bulk Account Opening is poised to transform in-branch business account onboarding, delivering substantial efficiency gains for frontline teams. Early adopters have already opened as many as 14 business accounts in a single, streamlined application workflow, reducing administrative burden and creating more opportunities to deepen relationships with business customers.”

 

• Oof 😯…  Another data breach at TransUnion hits 4.4 million consumers exposing customers’ names, dates of birth, and Social Security numbers per this filing with Texas AG.  In 2022, the firm was hit with a $15 million ransomware demand for the return of 54 million customer records.

 

• Notable FinTech funding for the week:
  • Payment Labs (API-driven platform for fast, secure payments targeting high-growth industries such as sports, esports, and the creator economy) raised $3.25M in Seed funding.
  • Atomic Invest (investing as a service for fintech, banks, and consumer companies) raised $30M in growth capital, following up on their $25M Series A round in Nov 2021.

 
 
Random Uncle Sean stuff:

• YAY – our first “cold” front has hit Texas (and we got some much-needed rain)! 🎉  Here in East Texas we are expecting highs in the upper 80’s next week with lows in the low to mid 60’s!!!!  May not seem like much, but I’ll take it after consistently hitting 100 degrees last week with a heat index of 110! 😵‍💫😊
• Certainly looking forward to this Labor Day weekend with plenty of football, family bbq (nom, nom, nom), and cooler weather!!!  ❤️❤️❤️
• Okay – lets close it out with the Dad / Bad Jokes (it’s Friday – time to be a hero and rescue some wine trapped in a bottle 🍷😊):
  • I don’t mean to brag too much, but…   I am so good at sleeping, I can do it with my eyes closed! 😉😴
  • If you spell “absolutely nothing” backwards, you get “gnihton yletulosba” – which, coincidentally, means absolutely nothing… 🙄🫤
  • So when exactly did the Bermuda Triangle stop working…???  Not a lot of drama going on there anymore…  It’s almost like it “disappeared”… 🤔😅
  • One final thought-provoking comment…
    • Space could literally be full of vampires, but we would never know because telescopes use mirrors… 🧛‍♂️🤔🙃

 
 
Have a GREAT Labor Day 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.