​Happy Friday!!!
 
Don’t forget to set your clocks forward as Daylight Savings Time begins this Sunday (excluding most of AZ and HI)!  Here is the Uncle Sean Update for 3/11/22:
 

• As expected, February Consumer Price Index (CPI) data came in smoking hot this week.  CPI rose 0.8% in February, and was up 7.9% over last year, the sharpest 12 month increase since 1982.  Core CPI came in at 0.5% for Feb and 6.4% YoY.  Next week is Fed Week (FOMC meeting), and pretty much everything I see points to a 25 bps increase in interest rates as the Fed will likely take a long, protracted approach to tackling inflation due to larger geopolitical concerns surrounding the war in Ukraine.

 

• Dollar General (DG) enters the banking space with their launch of Spendwell banking platform.  Not totally surprised given the recent additions by Walmart (One), 7-Eleven (Transact), and Walgreens (Scarlet).  Uncle Sean gives a breakdown of the services in the spendwell app:
  • There are two card products.  A 1% cash back rewards debit card with a $5 fee (waived with direct deposit) redeemable only on future DG purchases; and a free / no fee debit card.  Both are Visa debit cards issued by MetaBank with no overdraft fees (not allowed to overdraw).
  • Available via mobile app as well as online.  Additional features include Bill Pay, subaccounts, A2A and P2P.  Cash reload at all Dollar General locations for free (minimum add of $20); fees apply at other retail locations. 
    • Did you know that Dollar General has 18,000 locations across 47 states – WOW!!!!  From a footprint perspective, that’s greater than JPM, BofA, Citi, and WF combined.
  • Mobile Deposit Capture is by Ingo Money and First Century Bank.    
  • And as an interesting add - BNPL powered by Sezzle (in beta at 1,700 locations in Texas – keep in mind that Zip is in the process of acquiring Sezzle).

 

• The White House issued the widely anticipated Executive Order on Ensuring Responsible Development of Digital Assets, and there is a lot to unpack.  Thankfully, the White House also issued a Fact Sheet on the EO summarizing the key objectives; and GBBC has a great summary.  Additionally, there are some directives with specific timelines (they will be busy):
  • Treasury Department CBDC Report due within 180 days.
  • Treasury and Labor Department Report on Risk, Opportunities, and Policy Recommendations (consumer focused) due within 180 days.
  • Attorney General Report on Law Enforcement (detection / investigation of criminal activity related to digital assets) due within 180 days.
  • Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy and EPA Report on Climate Impact (energy impact of crypto mining / distributed ledger technology) due within 180 days.
  • Treasury and the Financial Stability Oversight Council Report on Financial Stability due within 210 days.
  • Treasury Department to establish Framework for International Engagement with foreign counterparts due within 120 days.

 

• The Federal Reserve goes on a marketing blitz for FedNow!  The Fed announced their FedNow Explorer (watch the welcome video).  This is great and I was blown away as I am used to the Fed typically delivering “no flair / ultra-conservative” data tables and narratives, but this is super cool!!!
  • Be sure to check out the Service Provider Showcase with profiles of 70+ service providers supporting the FedNow instant payments including payment processors, core banking system providers, mobile and online banking platform providers, and other segments.  Nicely done!

 

• Huntington National Bank joins the ranks of FIs restructuring overdraft by lowering their OD fees from $36 to $15.

 

• Another CU buying a bank this week…  Arizona Federal Credit Union (Charter #1747; total assets $2.8B) announced an agreement to acquire Horizon Community Bank (FDIC #57411; total assets $539M).  This is the 5th such deal of a CU buying a bank for the year and the 4th in March (source: FedFis).

 

• Better.com (online mortgage lender) is at it again – this time laying off 3,000 employees (almost 50% of their workforce) in a new round of cuts.  This comes just a few months after CEO Vishal Garg infamously and unceremoniously terminated 900 employees in a Zoom meeting.  Somewhat surprisingly, he is still CEO.  

 

• The CFPB and several state AG’s are investigating Block (Square) and its Cash App service specifically targeting Cash App’s handling of “customer complaints and disputes.”

 

• Late last week, the NCUA liquidated Empire Financial FCU in NJ (Charter #22344; 12/31/21 Total Assets $5.1M with a FedFis Rating of 4.67 placing them in the lowest possible percentile of all CU’s).  Jovia Financial FCU assumed the loans, assets and shares.  Empire was previously conserved on 5/24/21.

 

• Zeta (API-ready credit card processing stack for banks and fintech companies) announced a 5-year global partnership with Mastercard where Mastercard will provide support in areas such as fraud detection, risk and loyalty solutions, while Zeta will help customers make card issuance faster and more flexible with its loan-processing and credit technology solutions.

 

• It was a crazy busy week in the world of FinTech funding:
  • Acorns (savings and investing app) raised $300M in Series F round at a valuation of approximately $2B – WOWZA!!!!  This comes just about two months after they terminated their SPAC merger valued at about $2.2B.
  • Zeta (credit and payments processing stack for banks and fintech) raised $30M in equity (round was not disclosed) taking the companies valuation to $1.5B.
  • Stax (payments platform – fka Fattmerchant) raised $245M in an undisclosed funding round at a valuation north of $1B.
  • Axonius (cybersecurity asset management) raised  $200M in Series E funding round at a $2.6B valuation.
  • Propel (software for low-income Americans – check out their Providers mobile app & debit card) raised $50M in Series B.
  • AutoFI (dealership platform for online auto sales and financing) raised $85M n capital (undisclosed round) valuing the company at about $700M.  This latest round will be used to “expand AutoFi’s platform to banks, as well as captive and specialty finance companies.”
  • Branch (instant payout / EWA for contractors & employees) raised $75M in Series C with a stout 700% year over year growth in 2021.
  • Capchase (non-dilutive ARR financing) raised $80M in Series B round.
  • Milo (direct digital mortgage lender including crypto mortgages) raised $17M in Series A funding round.  Milo’s crypto mortgage product alloys customers to leverage their crypto holdings instead of liquidating them (only Bitcoin for now but expanding soon) to invest in real estate where crypto wealth is the qualifier – not tax returns or FICO scores.  Mortgage payments can be made in either fiat or crypto.
  • Chipper (app to help payoff student loans) raised $5.6M in Seed funding as student loan repayments are set to resume starting in May.  Per their blog, Chipper has helped their users save an “average of $309/month and has helped qualified applicants receive a total of $81 million in forgiveness since its launch. The company is currently growing 40% month over month, demonstrating its unique position in the student loan space.”
  • CoFi (construction finance) raised $7M in Seed round to further improve their construction financing platform matching builders with lenders and expediting payment flow as projects progress.
  • Best Egg / Marlette Holdings (credit, lending, and financial wellness platform with a Visa CC coming soon) raised $225M in Series E funding round
  • Stilt (credit builder platform + banking services targeting immigrants and underserved) raised $14M in Series A plus $100M debt facility and announced the launch of Onbo – a “Credit-as-a-Service” solution for startups to build credit products (credit builder, personal loan, line of credit).
    • This is a growing trend / evolution of FinTech that I am seeing across the board.  Essentially challenger banks that have spent years building an interface to a sponsor bank and realizing that the enterprise value isn’t just the consumer interchange revenue, but the API / system of record / KYC platform that they developed – and can now sell that as a white-label solution.

 
 
Random Uncle Sean Stuff:

• We lost Bobbie Nelson this week.  She was 91 years young and had played the piano in her brother Willie Nelson’s band for over 50 years.  NBC News has a good article highlighting the sibling relationship between Willie and Bobbie.
• Happy Anniversary to Aunt Patty and I as this Saturday marks 28 years of marriage!  That’s a long time of her having to put up with my humor (or lack thereof) – LOL!!!!!
• Speaking of bad humor – here are some Dad Jokes to get us into the weekend:
  • Don’t mess with old folks, the thought of life in prison is no longer a deterrent!
  • The next time gas gets down to $2, I think I’ll put some in the deep freezer….
  • When cows laugh really hard, does milk come out of their nose???  And here comes a “Dad Joke Run”:
    • Unless they are laughtose intolerant….
    • Sometimes it can go pasteurize…
    • That was just udderly ridiculous…
    • You may think it’s funny, but it’s snot…  It’s SNOT!!!
    • Okay, I’ll stop now!  😊

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

​Happy Friday!!!
 
Welcome to March as we celebrate Women's History Month!  Here is the Uncle Sean Update for 3/4/22:
 

• Congratulations to Community Bankers of West Virginia for being the most recent association for community bankers offering access to the Bankers Helping Bankers platform for their member banks in West Virginia!!!  Uncle Sean is super proud of the work we are doing in the BHB platform together!!!!

 

• Our friend, Mr. Mike Fernandez at Texas National Bank in Sweetwater, TX (FDIC #34014; $171M Total Assets) made headlines this week announcing the upcoming April launch of "Bankers Lender", a digital-first brand (we call that a Direct Bank here at FedFis) designed to serve the unique needs of individuals in the banking industry.  OUTSTANDING!!!!
  • This is a perfect example of Bankers Helping Bankers bringing profitable solutions to community banks.

 

• Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell testified before Congress this week.  Providing great clarity, as always (especially during a time such as now when it is needed most), Chairman Powell confirmed his support for a 25 bps interest rate hike at the upcoming March FOMC meeting; and plans to proceed carefully amid the war in Ukraine.
  • Perfect timing considering a strong February Jobs Report of +678,000 jobs (versus +440K estimate) and unemployment down to 3.8%.

 

• The FDIC released the Quarterly Banking Profile Report for 4Q2021 this week.  Couple of key takeaways that I personally found interesting:
  • This is my favorite – 4Q21 C&I loans increased 3.2% or $70.8B over 3Q21 in spite of PPP runoff.  This is great news as it signals business lending growth as the economy continues to expand!
  • Overall, 4Q21 Net Income of $63.9B is up 7.4% YoY, but down $5.6B or 8.1% from 3Q21.  You know the story here….  This is all a reflection of prior reserve releases.  The good news is that credit / asset quality looks good.
  • More good news - Net Interest Income (NII) is up while Net Interest Margin (NIM) is flat at 2.56%.  Why is that good news – see below.
    • In short, loan growth is happening!  For the real finance geeks out there like me (a high-five to my people!), when we see Net Interest Income is up while Net Interest Margin remains flat, it tells us that there is a corresponding increase in average earning assets (again while PPP continues to run off).  Yep – loan growth is here!!!  Look for NIM to increase (finally) as the Fed raises rates this year.
  • Only 44 banks on the “problem bank list” which is the lowest since 1984. 
    • This compares to 65 banks that we are tracking with a FedFis Rating© of 3.70 or worse in the bottom 1 percentile (nice plug, right!).

 

• Unifimoney is now accessible through Jack Henry's Banno Digital Platform allowing JH banks to access the Unifimoney digital wealth management platform to offer their account holders access to “trade thousands of stocks and ETFs, over 50 cryptocurrencies, and gold and other precious metals.”
  • I think our own Tanner Mayo said it best – “banks need a competitive offering to Coinbase. Further, FinTech apps like Coinbase that link to Bank accounts open up risk/fraud that the banks must cover…. Better that the bank own the channel.”  Yessir!
    • Recall a few weeks back where we talked about the Jack Henry Next-Generation Technology Strategy – essentially an open platform Marketplace for JH banks to easily access/integrate emerging technologies.  This Unifimoney announcement is a great example of that integration.

 

• Big bank M&A continues….  TD Bank Group (Canadian BHC for US based TD Bank, N.A.) announced an agreement to acquire First Horizon for $13.4B in an all cash transaction at 2.1X P/TBV.  That is a stout multiple for a cash transaction, but it is a great expansion plan for TD Bank and will result in a new top 6 U.S. bank upon closing.
  • Banking Dive has a good summary (note that the 9 month closing window seems tight – with an additional $0.65 per share to be paid if the deal doesn’t close before Nov. 27)
  • Check out the well done investor presentation – that’s a lot of real estate expansion with over 400+ locations across 12 states!

 

• Veritex Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: VBTX), the holding company for Veritex Community Bank announced an agreement to acquire StoneCastle Cash Insured Sweep, LLC (dba interLINK), an FDIC insured cash sweep platform, for $91M.

 

• Zip (BNPL firm based in Australia – fka QuadPay in the U.S.) has agreed to acquire Sezzle for approximately $353M in an all-stock deal to accelerate their U.S. expansion plans.  The combined company is forecasting 8.8M customers and 60,500 merchants in the U.S.  This deal has been widely anticipated for a few months now since they originally confirmed merger talks back in January.

 

• Credit Union acquisitions of banks went into hyperdrive this week:
  • Another Georgia credit union acquires a bank – Robins Financial CU (Charter #68670, $3.9B Total Assets) has agreed to acquire Persons Banking Company (FDIC #17089, Total Assets $429M), also of Georgia.
  • But wait – there’s more!  Barksdale FCU (Charter #9589; $2B Total Assets) in Louisiana to acquire HomeBank of Arkansas (Cert #5629; $74M Total Assets).
  • Oh – and one more makes 3 for the week and the 4th CU to acquire a bank so far this year!!!  Summit CU (Charter #67190; $4.8B Total Assets) in Wisconsin to acquire Commerce State Bank (Cert #58020., $837M Total Assets) in West Bend, Wisconsin.

 

• Southern Pine CU (Charter #67403; $42M Total Assets as of 12/31/21 Call Report) becomes the second credit union in 2022 to be released from conservatorship.  Originally conserved on 6/11/2020 with a FedFis Rating© of 4.41 at 6/30/20 placing them in the bottom 2% of all CUs to an improved 2.94 as of 12/31/21.  Nice work especially for a smaller financial institution!

 

• The FTC released their annual Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book.  Payments Dive has a good summary - the punchline is that consumer fraud totaled $5.9B in 2021, up about 79%  from $3.3B in 2020 – WOW!!!!
  • However…..  Keep in mind that the FTC also has a newly revamped online complaint portal in 2020 that has made it much easier for consumers to file a complaint (https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/#/).
  • If you want to dig deep, here is the actual (91 pages) Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book 2021 and includes a state by state breakdown as well.

 

• Acorn Finance (embedded home improvement financing) announced a partnership with Joist (mobile estimating, invoicing, and payments platform for contractors) to embed financing offers from multiple lenders directly into the Joist mobile app to allow Joist contractors to offer competitive financing at point-of-sale.

 

• Here are a couple of more interesting articles that caught my attention this week specifically regarding Ukraine and crypto if you want to dig deeper (just posting as “food for thought”):
  • Ukraine to issue NFT's as War Bonds?
  • War in Ukraine as a potential catalyst for cryptocurrency adoption?  More on this from CNBC.

 

• Notable FinTech funding for the week:
  • Atomic (payroll API – but it’s really much more than that) raised $40M in Series B just five months after announcing their $25M Series A.  Atomic’s “API-delivered product, which focuses on payroll data, powers 70 banks, credit unions and fintech companies such as Coinbase, Dave and Propel. Atomic said it now serves more than 120 million Americans, or more than 60% of the country.”
    • Great people doing great work – check them out at atomic.financial.
  • Pinata (proptech / credit building platform for renters) raised $13M in Series A.
  • Balbix (cybersecurity posture automation) raised $70M in Series C funding round to continue to fuel AI innovation in cybersecurity following 2.5x growth in annual recurring revenue over the last twelve months.
  • Electric Capital (VC Firm) has raised $1B for two new Crypto VC funds for early-stage investments in crypto, blockchain, and Web3.
  • Tenderly (blockchain development platform) raised $40M in Series B funding to simplify blockchain development.
  • Lynx (API-connected healthcare payments and banking platform – i.e. health fintech) emerges from stealth with $17.5M in funding that includes a new $15M Series A round plus the previous unannounced $2.5M Seed.

 
 
Random Uncle Sean Stuff:

• Aunt Patty and I visited Backspin Sports Bar last Saturday afternoon – and it was AWESOME!!!  We had garlic fries, stuffed mushrooms and shared a blackened chicken Caesar salad.  Oh and the beer was cold and delicious and the service was great too!
• Looks like our friends in Germany decided to do some catfishing and water skiing this weekend – Germany seizes Russian billionaire's superyacht as part of EU sanctions!  Whoa – hold on…  Now it looks like it’s going to be an international catfishing tournament as France seizes superyacht linked to Russia's Sechin.
  • Do you think they will let Uncle Sean go catfishing with them???  I’m pretty good with a net!  😊
• Speaking of sanctions….  Although Russia is massive in the terms of square miles (it is the largest country in the world at 6.3 million square miles), I found it interesting to note that from an economic comparison, Russia GDP (forecasted to be about $1.7T in 2022) is smaller than the State of New York (3Q21 GDP of $1.9T), and much smaller than Texas and California. 

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

Happy Friday!!!
 
Sign up here to have the Uncle Sean Update sent straight to your inbox each week.  Here is the Uncle Sean Update for 2/25/22:
 

• Other than Ukraine, the big news of the week goes to SoFi and their acquisition of Technisys in an all-stock deal valued at $1.1B.  Let’s dig into this one a little bit deeper….
  • SoFi of course is now a bank after the completion of the acquisition of Golden Pacific Bancorp earlier this year (a bank charter ties all of the below bullet points together).
  • Who is Technisys?  To be brief, Technisys is a cloud-based core-processing technology platform for fintech companies and non-US banks.
  • Don’t forget about SoFi’s acquisition of Galileo (the leading card issuer and payment processor for fintech companies in the US) in 2020 for $1.2B…
  • In conclusion, this is a new sponsor bank trifecta with a complete ecosystem…..  SoFi is now 1. The only nationally chartered bank that evolved from a challenger bank / fintech that also  2. Owns their own card issuing and global payments platform AND  3. Now owns a core / system of record (i.e. a “sidecar” core concept as defined by FedFis) geared towards onboarding fintech companies.
    • Think of it this way – if you wanted an embedded finance solution, this would be an easy one-stop shop to go to.
    • It will be VERY interesting to see how this evolves as each of these segments can run independently from a fintech / sponsor bank perspective – and you can bet your bottom dollar that Uncle Sean will be following this like a catfish chasing shad!!!!

 

• Citi is now the latest bank to eliminate overdraft fees (yawn – oops, sorry!).

 

• Atris Technology announced an agreement to acquire Hogan Financial Systems.

 

• TransUnion (NYSE: TRU) agreed to acquire Versik Financial for $515M in cash.  Argus Information & Advisory Services (which is Versik Financial’s leading business representing about 65% of Versik’s revenue) provides consumer data sourced by banks and card issuers and strengthens TransUnion’s core consumer credit business by incorporating a “full wallet view” of consumer spend. 
  • More info can be found on the TRU 4Q21 Earnings Presentation – pages 7, 8, and 9.

 

• Self Financial (credit building fintech) announced an agreement to acquire RentTrack (rent reporting to all three credit bureaus) including the LevelTrack platform (a division of RentTrack) that allows consumers to report rent, cell phone, and utility payments to the credit bureaus on a subscription basis.

 

• Rumor mill - Chime is reportedly delaying potential IPO to 2H2022 amongst a challenging market where many publicly traded fintech shares have dropped by 40% or more.
  • Ooohhh - Uncle Sean can’t hardly wait to dig into the financials once that S-1 drops!!!!!

 

• Crypto lender Nexo becomes the latest digital-asset firm to stop paying interest on crypto accounts stating they have "voluntarily implemented changes to its Earn Interest Product in the U.S. to comply with newly-announced guidance."  Recall last week where we talked about the BlockFI $100M settlement and the SEC’s focus on interest-earning crypto accounts.

 

• Another credit union acquires a bank - Georgia’s Own Credit Union (Charter #67390; Total Assets $3.4B) announced a definitive agreement to acquire Vinings Bank (FDIC #58533; $686M Total Assets).  This is the first CU acquisition of a bank in 2022; and I am hearing that there are more to be announced very soon.
  • Just FYI – there were 13 such deals of CU’s announcing acquisitions of banks in 2021, 7 in 2020, and 16 in 2019

 

• Shout out to Municipal Credit Union (Charter #60153; $4.2B Total Assets per 12/31/21 call report) for being released from conservatorship.  Previously conserved in May 2019 (FedFis Rating of 4.27 as of 6/30/19 placing them in the bottom 3% at the time), “Municipal’s leadership and staff diligently worked to fix identified problems, guide Municipal through this conservatorship, and restore the credit union’s health” to reflect an improved FedFis Rating of 2.66 as of 12/31/21.
  • This is pretty cool as it is rare for a CU to emerge from conservatorship; and must have taken a considerable amount of hard work to right the ship.  Looking back, the last time a CU was “released” from conservatorship was Texans CU back in 2016 (was first conserved in 2011).

 

• Webster Financial Corporation (NYSE: WBS), the BHC for Webster Bank, NA (FDIC #18221) announced an agreement to acquire Bend Financial, a cloud-based platform solution provider for health savings accounts (HSA).  This is a nice compliment and expansion of HSA Bank (a division of Webster Bank).

 

• Visa announced the launch of the Visa Minority Depository Institutions Accelerate program to assist MDIs by 1. Investing up to $100M via deposits in MDIs to spur lending activity, 2. Delivering tailored insights to MDIs on consumer spending, and 3. Equip MDI customers with digital tools and training for SMBs and consumers.

 

• Hanover Bancorp (PCO FR #5010134; BHC for Hanover Community Bank FDIC #58675) announces proposed IPO under Nasdaq symbol HNVR.  Their S-1 Registration Statement has been filed with the SEC but the number of shares and the proposed share price offering has not yet been determined.

 

• PNC Bank launches an on-demand pay solution (aka earned wage access) called PNC Earnedit and powered by DailyPay.

 

• Notable FinTech funding for the week:
  • Plinqit (savings platform that pays users to learn personal finances) raised $5M in capital to continue to drive higher user engagement at financial institutions.
  • Weavr (EU based embedded finance platform) raised $40M $40M in Series A and plans US market launch.
  • Secureframe (automated security and privacy compliance platform for HIPAA, SOC 2, PCI DSS, and ISO 27001) raised $56M in Series B round.
  • Anecdotes (compliance OS platform for HIPAA, SOC 2, PCI DSS, ISO 27001, and SOX ITGC) raised $25M in Series A funding round.
  • BlueVoyant (cybersecurity) raised $250M in Series D funding round after a “record-setting 2021 that included triple-digit growth momentum, key acquisitions, and an 80% increase in customer count. In addition, in 2021, the company increased its existing global footprint by expanding into more than 10 countries. Since 2018, BlueVoyant has grown annual recurring revenues at 117% on average.”
  • OCR Labs (digital ID verification) raised $30M in Series B to expand operations in North America and EMEA.  “OCR Labs’ solution supports anti-money laundering (AML) and know your customer (KYC) regulations, improves customer identity verification, and reduces fraud.”
  • Promise (consumer focused flexible payments platform for government debts) raised $25M in Series B round.
  • Savvy (next-gen wealth mgmt) raised $7.3M in Seed round.

 
 
Random Uncle Sean Stuff:

• Well, it was a pretty crappy week with geo-political and humanitarian concerns in Ukraine, the stock market made me sea-sick, enhanced concerns of cyberattacks on US companies and critical infrastructure - and I’m glad I don’t have Chairman Jerome Powell’s job of trying to mitigate inflation in the middle of all this….  So let’s continue to work hard, share some Dad Jokes, and slap a smile on your face!!!
  • They should do a sequel to the movie Groundhog Day and just re-release the original….  😊
  • I see people my age out there climbing mountains and zip lining and here I am feeling pretty good about myself because I got my leg through my underwear without losing my balance!  Yay ME!!!!
  • When snails fight it’s called a slugfest.
  • Nachos are really just tacos that don’t have their life together.

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

Happy Friday!!!
 
FinTech, Banking, Data – it’s what we do!!!  Here is the Uncle Sean Update for 2/18/22:
 

• Special shout out to John Lingvall and the California Community Banking Network as the next community bank state association to offer access to the Bankers Helping Bankers platform for their member banks in California!!!  Continuing to make a difference in community banking and technology – I am extremely proud to be a part of this movement!!!!   

 

• BlockFI to pay $100M in settlement with SEC and 32 states over charges related to its crypto lending product (BlockFI Interest Accounts) being an unregistered security.  BlockFI is now applying with the SEC via confidential S-1 registration to offer BlockFI Yield product which is expected to be “the first SEC registered crypto interest-bearing security” – effectively replacing the old BlockFI Interest Accounts.  Here is the actual SEC Press Release regarding crypto lending platforms. 
  • Additionally, the SEC issued an Investor Bulletin on Crypto Asset Interest-bearing Accounts clarifying that these are not the same as bank or CU interest-bearing accounts, are not as safe, and are not insured by the FDIC, NCUA, or SIPC.
  • This is all pretty big news related to crypto companies that promise consumers higher interest rates by lending out their tokens.  1. The SEC has clearly drawn a line in the sand with an intent to protect investors; and 2. They are providing a roadmap for success (register as a security) - hopefully.  
    • Recall a few months back when Coinbase decided to ditch their Coinbase Lend product (in the US only anyway) after a rather public SEC disagreement with the SEC threatening to litigate on the basis of an unregistered security offering.  Allegedly the SEC is also looking at Celsius, Gemini, and Voyager regarding the same.

 

• Yotta joins the list of fintech challengers to offer crypto savings account touting 4% APY.  By now you know how this works – they transfer the funds to a qualified custodian and convert US dollars to USDC stablecoin issued by Circle and loan out the crypto-assets to generate yield.  Hmmm…  I wonder if Yotta and Circle are paying attention to the SEC / BlockFI scenario above???

 

• FIS continues to make headlines.  This week it’s their acquisition of Payrix which continues their strategy of expanding in the payments space.  Payrix is an embedded payments company specifically in the SaaS sector and also provides onboarding, compliance, billing and settlement – thus giving FIS instant market penetration in the SaaS / SMB embedded finance arena.

 

• Mastercard selects 16 companies to participate in the Mastercard Send Partner Program for secure real-time digital payments.  Participants include Adyen, AptPay, Checkout.com, Cognizant, Fenige, Green Dot, Ingo Money, KyckGlobal, Opentech, OpenText, Oracle, PayPal, Stripe, TabaPay, Transcard, and Verestro – spanning the U.S., Europe, and Asia Pacific with more to be announced throughout 2022.  More on Mastercard Send here.

 

• MOCA Financial teams up with Atomic to provide automated direct deposit acquisition to MOCA clients.  Uncle Sean loves seeing this as both of these FI FinTech firms are doing great things to support community banking.  NICE!!!!

 

• Piermont Bank (rapidly rising sponsor bank) partners with Unit giving Piermont access to Unit’s Banking-as-a-Service infrastructure support while Unit gains access to a bank charter as a sponsor institution.

 

• GreenBox POS (Nasdaq: GBOX) partners up with Cross River to accelerate GreenBox’s Banking-as-a-Service initiative allowing GreenBox to “open custodial, reserve, and operating accounts for their customers, who can manage their accounts with a full suite of tools, all powered by Cross River.”  This gets really cool considering GreenBox blockchain payment solutions for business and Cross River Crypto solutions.

 

• Unifimoney inks a deal with Shop Your Way (SYW) to allow SYW members to redeem points to “purchase investable assets, including over 70 cryptocurrencies, thousands of equities, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and precious metals” on the Unifimoney platform.  Unifimoney also gains an undisclosed amount of growth capital as part of the announcement to further innovation of the Unifimoney digital wealth management solution for Community Banks and Credit Unions.
  • Check out these numbers – millions of SYW members “spend more than $9 billion and earn $50 million of rewards annually.”  WOWZA!!!

 

• Klarna’s debit card finally opens up in the U.S. in "waitlist" mode.  Uncle Sean has been tracking this since they announced the “pay now” option and debit card initiative back in November – we now know this is a Visa debit card issued by WebBank.
  • Also worth noting in the press release, Klarna states, “over the past year, Klarna’s US customer base has grown by over 70%, reaching 25 million consumers.”  That’s stout.

 

• Widely speculated for a few months now, MoneyGram International, Inc. (Nasdaq: MGI) announced an agreement to be acquired by Madison Dearborn Partners, LLC in an all cash deal valued at $1.8B representing $11.00 per share.

 

• So last week we talked about the FBI issuing their Public Service Announcement regarding rapid increase in smartphone SIM swapping fraud.  This week, CNBC Investigations has a great report on fraudsters using bots to drain crypto accounts targeting customers of mobile app crypto exchanges and two-factor (2FA) authentication code. 
  • Do yourself a favor and watch this 4 minute video - CNBC 2FA and OTP bot crypto fraud report specifically calling out Coinbase.
    • “…fraudsters routinely brag on Telegram about how well the bots have worked, netting for each user thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars in crypto. The cost of the bots ranges from $100 a month to $4,000 for a lifetime subscription.”

 

• Meanwhile, per this press release, the DOJ has tapped former prosecutor and Senior Counsel Eun Young Choi as the first Director to lead the previously announced National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET) to tackle complex investigations and prosecutions of “criminal use of digital assets, with a particular focus on virtual currency exchanges, mixing and tumbling services, infrastructure providers, and other entities that are enabling the misuse of cryptocurrency and related technologies to commit or facilitate criminal activity.”
  • Additionally, as part of that same DOJ press release, the FBI has created a new Virtual Asset Exploitation Unit comprised of “a specialized team of cryptocurrency experts dedicated to providing analysis, support, and training across the FBI.”
  • I’m no expert in law enforcement – but it sure sounds like they are getting serious!!!

 

• Notable FinTech funding for the week:
  • Securonix (global security analytics and operations management platform for advanced cyber threats) raised a massive $1B+ in growth equity in a private fundraising round. 
  • RapidRatings (supplier, credit, and third party risk platform) raised $200M in growth equity financing.
    • Uncle Sean is an old school finance and counter-party risk superfreak – I love that stuff!!!!
  • SecureThings (automotive mobility cybersecurity) raised $3.5M in pre-Series A. 
    • This is very interesting to me when you consider the software technology and capability that is growing within automobiles and the broader connected vehicle market.  Besides the obvious driver assistance systems (forward collision / automatic braking, lane and steering assist, etc.), think cellular (don’t forget about mobile wallets and payments once connected – i.e. Apple CarPlay and iPhones as card readers), Bluetooth, GPS and potential impact to public transportation.  Then expand those risks to the commercial side involving supply chains and the rapid growth in commercial autonomous trucking / delivery (critical infrastructure anyone???)…
  • Swell Financial (challenger fintech app) raised $10M in Series A funding ahead of formal launch expected summer 2022.  Swell offers a personal line of credit and a Mastercard debit card with up to 1.25% rewards (issued by Central Pacific Bank).  Future products include Swell Crypto and Swell Compound (private market investment opportunities).
  • Rainbow (Ethereum crypto wallet) raised $18M in Series A round to simplify the user experience of mobile crypto wallets.
  • Tilled (PayFac-as-a-Service) picks up $11M in extended Series A bringing their total A round to $22M as the company looks to triple their workforce to 150 employees.
  • Paywallet (API based, payroll-linked verification and remittance ecosystem) raised $8.8M in Series A bringing total funding to $14M.

 
 
Random Uncle Sean Stuff:

• Aunt Patty and I spent a few hours at 12 Fox Beer Co. last weekend – GREAT PLACE!  If you find yourself in Dripping Springs, TX be sure to stop by for their open air venue (kid and dog friendly), craft beers, and great food.  We had pulled pork nachos from a whole hog they smoked that day; and it was nothing short of AMAZING!!!!
• Taking a break from all the Super Bowl crypto ads…..  I admit – it was cool seeing the new E*Trade Baby commercial (now from Morgan Stanley) make a comeback in the Super Bowl ad space.  For those fortunate enough to be so young as to not remember the original ads (started back in 2008), here are some of Uncle Sean’s old E-Trade Baby favorites:
  • 2008 Inaugural Spitup, 2009 Shankapotomus, 2010 Milkaholic (Lindsay Lohan actually sued over this one – LOL) , 2010 Time Out, 2010 Mellody Hobson interview, and my all-time favorite - 2011 Shocked Face.
• Be careful of recurring online scams out there – for Valentine's Day I ordered Aunt Patty some jewelry but they sent me a new fishing rod (again)!!!  😊

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

Happy Friday!!!
 
Holy Cowabunga there was a lot going on this week!!!!  Here is the Uncle Sean Update for 2/11/22:
 
It’s Super Bowl Sunday!!!!!  In a sign of the times, it is worth noting that it is being played in SoFi Stadium (yep – congrats on that new bank charter).  Of course we all love the commercials featuring media stalwarts such as Budweiser, Pepsi, and Lays – but look at the rest of the lineup (signaling a recognized change in how we live our lives now) featuring Rocket Mortgage, Squarespace, Rakuten, Salesforce, DraftKings, Uber Eats, Crypto.com, Coinbase, and an FTX sponsored bitcoin giveaway during the second half.  Also worth mentioning is the fact that the NFL is issuing Super Bowl tickets as NFT's for everyone attending.
 
Now on to the rest of the Update:

• For the macroeconomic nerds like me (yeah baby)…  CPI came in super-hot again this week with January at 0.6% (estimate was a cooling to 0.4% which is a 50% miss) and 7.5% over last year which is the highest since February 1982.  Core CPI came in at 6% which is still a 40 year mark.  Basically, if you are under 60 years of age, you probably have not experienced anything like this as a working adult with financial responsibilities (here’s a glimpse of what life was like in 1982).  Keeping in mind that nothing over the last few years has been “normal” from a macroeconomic standpoint, so let’s not freak out too much - LOL.  Source - BLS CPI Summary report.
  • Of course I’m blaming all of this on the Dallas Cowboys for calling a QB Draw and running the ball up the middle for 17 yards on a second-and 1 down with no way to stop the clock as time expired thus losing the playoff wild-card game 23-17 to San Francisco.  C’MON MAN!!!  Deep breath, Uncle Sean…  Calm blue ocean…  Cool waters…  All is well…  😊

 

• Fiserv announced a definitive agreement to acquire remaining ownership of Finxact for $650M instantly accelerating Fiserv into the fintech and direct / digital banking space.

 

• Jack Henry announces Next-Generation Technology Strategy…..  Okay – so I read this no less than six times.  The words are in English, but I really had a hard time understanding what they were trying to say.  Let me try to break it down for you:
  • JKHY just announced an open platform Marketplace (think of this like an app store where you can select new technologies for your bank with an easy integration).  JKHY states that they already have more than 850 FI FinTech companies in their marketplace ecosystem.
  • So what does this mean???  If you are an FI with a JKHY Core OR (note that I said “or”, not “and”) JKHY Banno Online, you now have easy access/integration to emerging technologies.  This is exactly what bankers have been asking for; and it’s here now.
    • Uncle Sean broke his crystal ball years ago (back in the dot.com era - LOL), but I suspect that FIS and Fiserv will be following suit very soon.

 

• Global Payments puts Netspend consumer debit card business up for sale in order to focus more exclusively on B2B operations.

 

• DriveWealth adds cryptocurrency trading by acquiring acquiring Crypto-Systems.  CNBC has a good write-up focusing on the unsustainable fee structure with Coinbase and others as regulatory pressures tighten and competition increases.

 

• Betterment (wealth management / digital investment advisor) enters the crypto space by announcing the acquisition of Makara, an SEC-registered investment advisor offering automated cryptocurrency portfolios.

 

• M&T Bank joins the list of FI’s to revise overdraft policies.

 

• FIS Worldpay partners with Crypto.com to process global card-based purchases and sales of cryptocurrencies for Crypto.com.

 

• Acting FDIC Chair Martin J. Gruenberg reveals FDIC Priorities for 2022 including:
  • Strengthen Community Reinvestment Act (CRA)
  • Address Financial Risks Posed by Climate Change
  • Review Bank Merger Process
  • Evaluate Crypto-Asset Risks
  • Finalize Basel III Capital Rule

 

• American Express launched a high-yield online checking account with debit rewards for consumers.  However, I was a little bit surprised at the amount of press that got since Amex has several platforms already – a quick look into the FedFis FinTech Analytics© database (now that’s a nice plug) shows:
  • Bluebird by Amex is a prepaid GPR Amex and mobile app (after all, Amex is a nationally chartered bank) as well as a Visa debit card issued by Meta Bank - and of course Kabbage as a Direct / Digital Bank on the Business side

 

• Wirex goes live in the USA with crypto-linked Visa card that allow you to make purchases using crypto anywhere Visa is accepted with an added bonus of up to 8% “Cryptoback” rewards (more on that below).  And here is the rest of the story:
  • Once you fund your account in the Wirex mobile app, you can buy, sell, hold up to 37 cryptocurrencies
  • The Visa card is a virtual prepaid GPR issued by Sutton Bank.  Purchases made with the Visa Prepaid card are converted from Crypto to fiat in “near real-time” at point of sale.
  • Rewards are based on spending and are issued as X-Points (Wirex native token) that can be redeemed for any other crypto available in the Wirex app
    • Actual rewards % is based on your subscription level – free is only 2% rewards, $9.99 per month is 4%, and $29.99 per month is 8%

 

• The FBI issues Public Service Announcement regarding rapid increase in smartphone SIM swapping fraud.  “From January 2018 to December 2020, the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) received 320 complaints related to SIM swapping incidents with adjusted losses of approximately $12 million. In 2021, IC3 received 1,611 SIM swapping complaints with adjusted losses of more than $68 million.”  ZDNet has a good summary and states “don’t brag about your crypto online” and avoid using mobile SMS based two-factor authentication.
  • That’s an increase of more than 5X in one year over the last 3 years combined – OUCH!

 

• In one of the more colorful stories circulating this week, Ilya “Dutch” Lichtenstein and Heather Morgan were arrested in New York and are charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to defraud the US in conjunction with the $4.5B Bitfinex hack back in 2016 – to which authorities have seized $3.6B in cryptocurrency linked to that hack.  If convicted, the couple could face up to 25 years in prison. 
  • Do yourself a favor and read this article from Reuters - self-proclaimed "Crocodile of Wall Street" arrested.  Make sure you check out the website links (razzlekhan) and rap songs for pure amusement.  I know I shouldn’t make fun, but this is just solid gold (pun intended).  LOL!!!!
  • If you want more, you can read the actual DOJ press release regarding the hack and subsequent arrest.

 

• Notable FinTech funding for the week:
  • Ramp (corporate card and business expense mgmt platform) raised $200M in capital which appears to be an undisclosed Series D at an $8B valuation!!!.  Previous $300M Series C was raised just six months ago in August 2021 at a $3.9B valuation – which was less than 5 months removed from their $115M Series B at a $1.6B valuation.  That’s a lot of capital over the last year!!!!
  • Happy Money (unsecured lender) raised $50M Series D-1 at a $1.1B valuation.
  • LoanStreet (FI lendtech platform) raised $25M in Series B funding round and eyes Canadian expansion.  Per the article, LoanStreet claims to have over 1,200 financial institutions as customers in the US.
  • Aleo (privacy focused blockchain applications platform) raised $200M in Series B
  • Alchemy (blockchain infrastructure) raised $200M in C1 round at a valuation of $10.2B – this comes just four months after their $250M Series C at a $3.5B valuation; and up considerably from their $80M Series B less than a year ago in April 2021 at a $505M valuation.  That’s over $1B in valuation growth per month over the last year - Holy Cow!!!
  • Shift5 (cybersecurity for critical transportation and military) raised $50M in Series B funding
  • OpenNode (bitcoin payment processor) raised $20M in Series A round at a $220M valuation.
  • Streetbeat (AI-driven strategy based investing app) raised $10M Seed Round touting 35,000 customers in the first 30-days of beta and increasing 18% per week – NICE!!!
  • Polygon (blockchain network) raised $450M in capital and states a valuation of $2B
  • Sardine (fraud and compliance platform for ACH & card settlement to fintech and crypto companies) raised $19.5M in Series A round

 
 
Random Uncle Sean Stuff:

• ALERT - With all the focus on the Super Bowl and crypto ads - DON’T FORGET THAT THE VERY NEXT DAY IS VALENTINE’S DAY!!!!!!!!!!  You’re welcome – LOL!
  • Speaking of Super Bowl crypto - have you seen the recent South Park spoof on Matt Damon bitcoin commercial (language warning at the beginning)?  I laughed way too hard at that!
• We’ve been crazy busy recently and I am late getting my onion sets planted in the ole garden.  Hoping to get that done this weekend and prune the rose bushes (Belinda’s Dream roses are a solid performer here in central Texas and one of my all-time favorites).  Ahhh – I love playing in the dirt!!!!
• Some quick Dad Jokes for you:
  • You ever meet someone and you just know instantly from that first moment that you want to spend your whole life without them?  LOL
  • I still think that Chef Bobby Flay should have named his daughter Sue….
  • If you don’t like the Uncle Sean Weekly Updates, you should probably get tested….  One of the symptoms of Covid is lack of taste…  BWAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

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

Happy Friday!!!
 
Welcome to February - Brrrr!!!!  Don’t forget to sign up here to have the Uncle Sean Update sent straight to your inbox each week – and forward to your friends too!!!  Here is the Uncle Sean Update for 2/4/22:
 

• A special shout out to the Community Bankers Association of Oklahoma for being the most recent association for community bankers offering access to the Bankers Helping Bankers platform this week for their member banks in Oklahoma!!!!  This keeps on getting better and better!
  • Little known fact…  Uncle Sean is an alumnus of Moore High School in Moore, OK – GO LIONS!!!  😊

 

• Okay, okay – just some quick macroeconomic data and I promise I’ll be brief!  Check out that Jan BLS Jobs Report – WHOA!!! 
  • The U.S. added 467K jobs in January which is significantly higher than consensus expectations of 155K – and we were being told to brace for a lower than expected number as recent as yesterday!
  • But wait – there’s more!!!!  Prior month revisions reported today were also massive!  On the same Jan BLS Jobs Report, Dec was revised up to 510K from 199K; and Nov was also revised up to 647K from 249K.  WOW!!!
  • Just confirms how difficult it has been for all of us to forecast accurately with the recent Omicron spike and quarantine protocol reducing from 14 days to 5.
    • Uncle Sean’s “off the rails” commentary – of course interest rate increases are coming…..  And that could spell trouble for fintech challenger banks that operate on a single source revenue model of debit interchange.  Bank NIM will benefit from rising rates (assuming credit quality remains in check), but debit interchange doesn’t move in conjunction with Fed rate increases.

 

• TD Bank becomes the latest high-profile institution to revise overdraft policies for 2022.  The bank did not disclose a timeline, but did state the following changes throughout the year:
  • $50 overdraft threshold before incurring an OD fee.
  • A 24 hour no-fee cure period for customer overdrafts greater than $50.
  • Elimination of the transfer fee for customers using other account linked overdraft protection services.
  • Pro-active low balance alerts to inform customers when their account balances are low.

 

• Zelle flexes their muscles with strong payment volume showing $490B in payments for 2021 citing an increase of 49% year over year.
  • Not meaning to kick a company while they are down (PYPL stock falls on weak guidance), but comparatively - PayPal reported Venmo Total Payment Volume (TPV) of $230.1B for 2021 growing 44% year over year. 

 

• Speaking of payments, Nacha reports record 2021 ACH Network payments of 29.1 billion payments valued at a whopping $72.6 trillion with strong growth in B2B and Same Day ACH.

 

• And more payments - The Federal Reserve gave us a glimpse into the upcoming FedNow pricing approach and credit transfer limits.  While the full 2023 FedNow Service fee schedule will be published later in 2022, we get a sneak peek at some of the details:
  • $25 monthly participation fee for every RTN enrolled in the service
  • $0.045 per credit transfer to be paid by sender
  • $0.01 request for payment (RFP) message to be paid by the requestor
  • Default credit transfer transaction limit of $100K with a maximum of $500K

 

• TruboTax by Intuit (yep – they are a fintech too – check out the turbo debit card which is actually a prepaid Visa GPR issued by GreenDot) and Coinbase announced a plan where TurboTax customers can get their tax refund deposited direct into their Coinbase account and automatically converted into cryptocurrency.
  • Here is some more detail from the Coinbase blog as well as the TurboTax site

 

• Amount (bank technology provider – we refer to this as FI FinTech) acquires Linear Financial Technologies for $175M.  This deal makes sense to Uncle Sean (without access to the financial data) as Amount’s existing model is retail banking based featuring account opening, loan originations, cc applications, plus merchant POS BNPL solutions.  Linear’s platform covers SMB loan and account origination which is a perfect compliment to Amounts consumer portfolio and Linear has already rebranded as Amount Small Business.

 

• Revolut US has been enhancing their cross-border remittance platform – specifically in the competitive US / Mexico transfer corridor.  Now boasting 30 minute settlements from US to Mexico for free.  Here’s a little detail on how we got here:
  • Revolut launched in the US in March 2020
  • Launched low cost US-MEX transfers in July 2021 at the real exchange rate
  • Shortly thereafter introduced 10 free international transfers per month for Revolut US customers
  • And now announces the ability to processes settlements within 30 minutes for US-MEX free transfers

 

• Paysend (international transfers) announces agreement with Visa Direct allowing US customers to provide real-time international payment transfers to eligible Visa cardholders in over 107 countries.

 

• T-Mobile launches True Name by Mastercard for T-Mobile Money debit card.

 

• Square (err Block) announced the completion of the Afterpay acquisition with a $29B price tag (cha-ching).  Uncle Sean posted a deeper dive back in August at the time of the announcement with the punchline being – it’s all about the Square Seller ecosystem.
  • At that time…  “Afterpay makes about 84% of their revenue by charging the merchant 4% - 6% on BNPL purchase volume.  Afterpay’s purchase volume is about $16B right now per the investor deck.  Square merchant side process volume is about $140B currently.  A lowly 10% BNPL adoption into the Square merchant platform will essentially double the Afterpay revenue.  Now THAT is ecosystem integration.  Not to mention the fact that Square just got huge international expansion overnight.”
  • And now we wait to see how this unfolds with the CFPB digging deep into BNPL in the US…..

 

• Monzo (UK challenger bank) officially exits beta in the US and finally goes live after 18 months.

 

• Notable FinTech funding for the week:
  • Floatme raised $16.2M in Series A
  • Phantom (crypto wallet on the Solana ecosystem) raised $109M in Series B funding round at a $1.2B valuation.  Funding will be used to expand across multiple blockchains including Ethereum.  This is a huge round considering their $9M Series A was only six months ago.
  • First Dollar (HSA PFM app) raised $14M in Series A funding.  Think of this as an intelligent “health wallet” that allows consumers to use HSA, FSA, and HRA tax-advantaged benefits with the ease of one card (Mastercard issued by Piermont Bank) and not having to worry about receipt reimbursements.
  • Boopos (alt business lending including M&A financing) raised $30M in capital including Seed funding plus Series A
  • Mos (challenger bank focused on students) raised $40M in Series B round at a $400M valuation
  • PlexTrac (cybersecurity software) raised $70M in Series B funding
  • CoinLedger (crypto tax software – fka CryptoTrader.Tax) raised $6M in funding
  • Tribal (corporate card and B2B payments platform) raised $60M in Series B funding round

 
 
Random Uncle Sean Stuff:

• Well….  Did he, didn’t he, did he…???  Looks like he did!  Tom Brady effectively “pump faked” retirement (see what I did there) as his last NFL move but finally made an official retirement announcement after a crazy few days of rampant (and a little bit ridiculous) media fueled speculation. 
  • Not always liked (mainly because most Americans love an underdog), but always respected with arguably the most successful NFL career of all time.  22 years in the NFL, started in 10 Super Bowls, won 7, and named Super Bowl MVP 5 times.  He holds an amazing 40 NFL statistical records – by far the most of any player in NFL history.  CBS Sports has a great summary called Tom Brady by the Numbers.
• OH C’MON MAN – While much of the U.S. is dealing with a brutal winter storm, Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow this week at the annual Groundhog Day celebration at Gobblers Knob which means he is predicting six more weeks of winter – NOOOOO!!!!!  Ah but don’t fret too much my friends…  Turns out he really sucks at his job as a nationally recognized weather forecasting rodent with only about a 39% accuracy rate per the Stormfax Almanac.   WHEW – that was close!!!!!!  😊
• And finally some Dad jokes (you can stop scrolling down now – LOL):
  • Random Dad thought - If you clean out the vacuum cleaner, you actually become the vacuum cleaner….
  • Ever wonder how many vampires have been run over by people backing up and only using their mirrors???
  • When doing exercise squats, are your knees supposed to sound like an old goat chewing on an aluminum can stuffed with celery (asking for a friend)???
  • Aunt Patty and I tried to start a balloon company once, but we couldn’t keep up with inflation – LOL!!!!!!

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

Happy Friday!!!
 
WOW – what a crazy busy week, so let’s get to it!  Here is the Uncle Sean Update for 1/28/22:
 

• It’s Fed Week!!!!!  Uncle Sean always geeks out a little too much here so feel free to scroll down if this bores the heck out of you – LOL!  The FOMC did not raise rates and continued the accelerated taper (bond buying to end in March).  BUT – forward guidance was given and a rate increase is on the agenda for March citing high inflation and strong job market.
  • For reference, here is the FOMC press release, Chairman Powell’s Press Conference transcript (26 pages), and a CNBC summary.
  • Additionally, here is a little more macro-economic information:
    • The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has CPI at a 40 year high at 7% as of December and unemployment back to pre-pandemic lows of 3.9% as of December (down from a high of 14.7% in April 2020).
    • The core Personal Consumption Expenditures index (PCE), which is what the Fed primarily relies on and kind of aligns with core CPI, came in at 4.9% year over year – the fastest gain since Sept 1983 (another 40 year high).
    • The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) reported GDP growth for the fourth quarter at 6.9% annualized versus expectations of 5.5% (and compared to 2.3% annualized for third quarter). 
      • However, if you exclude “nonfarm private inventories” (businesses rebuilding inventory due to continued supply chain improvements – basically restocking), actual GDP ended at a much more subdued level of 2% annualized for the quarter.  Now that is interesting!!!!

 

• We had another great recorded video event in Bankers Helping Bankers this month - this time from Chris Bedel with Bedel Security covering bank focused trends and threats in cybersecurity, creating a positive bank culture surrounding security, and easy dashboard reporting metrics for community bankers and their Board.  This was not your typical “sleepy” bank security presentation – Chris was AWESOME and his presentation kept us all riveted!!!!

 

• Visa stated that customers made $2.5B in payments with its crypto-linked cards in its fiscal first quarter of 2022 earnings call (Oct – Dec on a calendar basis) which was 70% of the company’s crypto volume for all of fiscal 2021.  WOW!!!!

 

• Walmart (Hazle) took a big step forward with their fintech goals this week as they announced the acquisition of One and Even giving Walmart full mobile challenger bank offerings.  A quick look into the FedFis FinTech Analytics© platform (see what I did there) shows us:
  • Even is mostly known as an early wage access (EWA) platform, but they are really an employer-sponsored PFM app that enables EWA, high-interest savings (Cross River is the Sponsor bank), and budgeting tools.
  • One is more of a full challenger fintech / neobank offering credit builder, personal loans, Mastercard debit card, savings, P2P, and more – Sponsor bank for One is Coastal Community Bank.
    • Just reminiscing - If you remember when PNC (oops, I mean BBVA – yeah, right LOL) shut down Simple and Azlo, it was One that launched the very active campaign to attract the disenfranchised Simple customers.
  • It will be interesting to see what changes from a sponsor bank perspective as well as the fact that Finxact may have the most to lose – or potentially the most to gain depending on how Walmart (Hazle) pivots from here.  Reference - Finxact as system of record for One.

 

• UBS is acquiring US-based Wealthfront for $1.4B in cash.

 

• Reuters is reporting that PE firms are lining up bids to acquire MoneyGram.  Not completely surprising considering the intense competitive pressures in the cross-border and P2P space.  Also, MoneyGram is no stranger as an acquisition target - recall in 2018 when the US blocked MoneyGram $1.2B acquisition by Ant Financial (China).

 

• Zip (BNPL – fka QuadPay) is in talks to acquire Sezzle, both of which have an active presence in the U.S.

 

• And just like that, Facebook’s (errr Meta) stablecoin endeavor is over… for now….  Subject to constant regulatory scrutiny since Facebook launched Diem (fka Libra) in 2019, they have decided to scrap the platform and sell Diem to Silvergate Bank for $200M.

 

• The CSBS released their 4Q21 Community Bank Sentiment Index (CBSI).  Overall sentiment is slightly more positive than last quarter, but regulatory burden and profitability concerns are significantly dampening future outlook (I know – shocking, right?!?! LOL) with cyberattacks leading the way of future concerns.

 

• Meanwhile, our emboldened CFPB has now set their sights on "junk fees" charged by banks and financial companies by seeking public input on fees associated with “their bank, credit union, prepaid or credit card account, mortgage, loan, or payment transfers.”

 

• Experian allows consumers with no credit history (dubbed “credit invisibles”) to create their own credit report via Experian Go and Experian Boost linking banking data and recurring bills to their credit report.

 

• Keeping an eye on this one as it could get interesting just considering the number of iPhones in the US if nothing else…..  Apple continues to build out their fintech services (CC, BNPL, Apple Pay, Apple Wallet with digital driver license, etc.) – an now reports are out stating iPhone to accept credit card payments without any extra hardware (card reader) using NFC technology – essentially “tap to pay”… 
  • Could pose a threat to Square (Block) in the SMB arena.  Per the article, Square currently charges $299 for the device and a fee of 2.6% plus 10 cents for every transaction.  It remains to be seen what Apple intends to charge.

 

• Congrats to USF FCU in Florida for receiving their CDFI Designation – very cool!!!

 

• Uncle Sean typically does not like to report on speculation or rumor mill activity – HOWEVER (LOL), it appears that Chime has hired Goldman Sachs to help with preparations for an IPO.  Of course all of this is according to anonymous sources.  Guess we will continue to wait and see; but I can’t hardly wait to dig into their financial statements!!!

 

• FinTech funding for the week (someone left the gate open and the unicorns are running wild):
  • FTX US (the US division of cryptocurrency exchange FTX) raised a whopping $400M in Series A at an enormous $8B valuation – DANG!!!!
  • Anitian (zero trust cloud security platform) raised $55M in Series B funding round
  • Vartana (BNPL for B2B) raised $57M in funding comprised of $7M in equity and $50M in a credit facility.  Vartana strives to offer financing for terms of 12 to 60 months. 
    • I may be getting old, but we used to refer to this as just ‘business financing’….  But I guess that doesn’t sound quite as cool as BNPL for B2B!
  • Personetics (AI-driven customer engagement platform for financial services) raised $85M in growth funding.  Valuation was not disclosed.
  • Virtru (zero trust cybersecurity platform) raised $60M in growth financing round
  • Routefusion (international payments API) raised $10.5M in a "seed prime" add-on round (total to date of $14.1M)
  • SavvyMoney (credit score solution for online and mobile banking) raised $45M in growth funding.  Valuation was not disclosed but the company stated 3X revenue growth over the last 24 months and almost 800 financial institutions as more FI’s look to offer credit score-powered solutions.
  • Fireblocks (crypto infrastructure) raised $550M in Series E and quadruples their valuation in the last six months to $8B – WHOA!!!!
    • This is an update as Uncle Sean previously reported back in December that Fireblocks was in the process of raising a $400M Series E
  • CoinTracker (crypto portfolio tracker and tax calculator) raised $100M in Series A funding round at a $1.3B valuation – that’s pretty stout for an A round!
  • Esusu (alternative credit reporting) raised $130B in Series B round at a $1B valuation
  • Ascend (API-based insurance payments platform) raised $30M in Series A funding plus a $250M lending commitment to finance insurance premium loans (think BNPL for policy premium)
  • Polly (mortgage capital markets platform) raised $37M in Series B and has increased customer count nearly 3X over the last year
  • Vesta (mortgage LOS platform) raised $30M in Series A funding round
  • Veriff (global identity verification) raised $100M in Series C at a $1.5B valuation as the online identity verification market explodes
  • Blockdaemon (crypto infrastructure) raised $207M in Series C funding at a $3.25B valuation

 
 
Random Uncle Sean Stuff:

• Funniest thing I saw this week was from TheStreet – “has anyone tried unplugging the stock market and plugging it back in?”
• Pittsburgh Steelers Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger retires after 18 years in the NFL – all with the Steelers – amassing a record of 165-81-1 with over 64,000 passing yards, 418 touchdowns, 41 fourth quarter comebacks, and 53 game winning drives including three Super Bowl appearances with two victories.  Hall of Fame talks have already begun.
• Former Red Sox slugger David Ortis (Big Papi) inducted into Baseball Hall of Fame while Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, in their final year of eligibility, were left out.
• And we MUST kick this weekend off with some killer Dad Jokes:
  • How do you stop Canadian Bacon from curling in the pan?  You take away their little brooms….
  • What kind of snake is exactly 3.14 meters long?  A Pi-thon!  😊
  • And my personal favorite for the week….. 
    • “Forget about Kryptonite…  I heard that ex-lax knocked the crap out of superman!!!!”  BWAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

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

Happy Friday!!!
 
Sign up here to have the Uncle Sean Update sent straight to your inbox each week.  Here is the Uncle Sean Update for 1/21/22:

• Congratulations Community Bankers Association of Georgia for becoming the most recent association of community bankers offering access to the Bankers Helping Bankers platform this week for their member banks in Georgia.  Uncle Sean is VERY EXCITED to be a part of this!!!!!

 

• The long-awaited Federal Reserve document on potential U.S. central bank digital currency (CBDC) is finally here….  I’m glad that Chairman Jerome Powell tempered expectations last week by stating it would be “an exercise in asking questions and seeking input ... rather than taking a lot of positions.”  However, I am happy to report that it is much more detailed than the joint 2-pager released back in November after several months of waiting….  If you want to dig deep, here is the 40 page Federal Reserve report - Money and Payments: The U.S. Dollar in the Age of Digital Transformation.  Otherwise, here are some key points (the paper goes over these in detail):
  • If (and that’s a big if as they continually reiterate that Federal Reserve takes no position on the desirability of a U.S. CBDC) a potential U.S. CBDC were created, it would need to be privacy-protected, intermediated, widely transferable, and identity-verified (that last one is key)
  • Complex policy issues and risks must be fully vetted – specifically, how it might affect financial-sector market structure, the cost and availability of credit, the safety and stability of the financial system, and the efficacy of monetary policy
  • Seeking public comments by May 20, 2022 by using this form - https://www.federalreserve.gov/apps/forms/cbdc

 

• Shout out to SoFi as they get the regulatory nod by the OCC to become a Bank Holding Company through its acquisition of Golden Pacific Bancorp, Inc. thus paving the way for the new SoFi Bank, National Association – very cool!!!! 
  • So I read far too many misleading articles referencing the “conditional approval” specifically related to limiting SoFi’s engagement in crypto.  So to be crystal clear – a written “non-objection notice” is required of all OCC regulated banks before engaging with crypto (see OCC Interpretive Letter #1179), not just SoFi Bank.
  • Additionally, the “conditions” relate to specific capital contributions (the $750M capital injection has been fully disclosed many times) and adherence to an Operating Agreement.  Again, all standard stuff in the banking world but it kind of freaks out some of my non-bank fintech friends I guess.  Here is the actual OCC Conditional Approval Letter.

 

• Stripe inks a 5-year agreement with Ford to modernize and scale the automaker’s e-commerce and payments platform across North America and Europe.

 

• Plaid announced that they are acquiring Cognito, an identity verification and compliance (KYC, AML) platform.  TechCrunch estimates the price at $250M and has a good summary here.

 

• Earned Wage Access (EWA) continues to garner significant regulatory attention.  This week, the CFPB Acting General Counsel Seth Frotman stated in a letter that they may be digging further into this issue again in the near future for greater clarity as to what constitutes a “loan”.

 

• U.S. Bank and Truist become the latest to join the ranks of banks reducing overdraft fees.

 

• Acorns and Pioneer Merger Corp (SPAC – Nasdaq: PACX) have terminated their merger agreement.  Per the Pioneer 8-k, Acorns is required to pay a termination fee of $17.5M in monthly installments through Dec. 15, 2022 PLUS another $15M on Dec. 22, 2022 if Pioneer does not close another deal and decides to liquidate.   

 

• Check out Cross River Bank (one of Uncle Sean’s favorite Sponsor Banks) expanding their sponsor footprint into the crypto world with Cross River Crypto providing “fiat on and off ramps” as a service for wallets, crypto exchanges, and NFT platforms.  Makes perfect sense considering their payment API’s.

 

• Leading crypto exchange Coinbase partners with Mastercard to allow Coinbase customers to easily purchase NFTs using Mastercard credit and debit cards on the crypto exchange’s upcoming NFT marketplace, thus bypassing the cumbersome consumer-driven process of having to open a crypto wallet, buy crypto, than use it to purchase an NFT in an online marketplace.

​

• Iroquois Federal (FDIC #29675; Total Assets of $767M) partners with Nymbus to launch their new digital-only brand, Hitched.

• H&R Block launches Spruce, a no-fee consumer mobile banking platform featuring a Mastercard debit card (issued by MetaBank) with cash back rewards, savings, early direct deposit access, credit score monitoring, overdraft protection (up to $20), and of course tax refund allocation.
  • A quick look into our FedFis FinTech Analytics© database shows that this compliments H&R Block’s existing financial services offerings that include Wave Money (no-fee SMB financial platform with Visa debit card issued by Community Federal Savings Bank) and the Emerald Card on the no-fee mobile MyBlock app (with prepaid Mastercard issued by MetaBank).

 

• Shopify launches their business banking platform, Shopify Balance business account within the online Shopify platform.  Features include next-day access to funding from Shopify sales, a Visa debit card, rewards, and money transfer / bill pay with no fees.  A nice compliment to the existing Shopify Capital and overall Shopify platform.

 

• In the meantime, per this Government Executive report, the USPS Banking Pilot has provided banking services to 6 (yes six) customers between Sept 13 and Jan 12 for a gross transaction total of $548.46 that resulted in fee income of $35.70 for the Postal Service.  Well, I guess that finally solves our unbanked problem (sarcasm) – LOL!!!!!

 

• Sultan Meghji, Chief Innovation Officer for the FDIC, resigns less than a year into the job.

 

• Fintech funding for the week:
  • Pinwheel (payroll API) raised $50M in Series B funding round at a $500M valuation just six moths after their $20M series A
  • Banyan Security (Zero Trust Network security platform) raised $30M in Series B round
  • Facet Wealth (hybridized tech / advisor financial planning firm) raised $100M in Series C funding round
  • 1Password (password management and security monitoring platform) raised $620M in Series C funding at a $6.8B valuation
  • iTrustCapital (crypto IRA software platform) raised $125M in Series A round at a $1.3B valuation – DANG that’s a big Series A!!!  The company states that they have grown from $2B in transaction volume to more than $4.5B in the last six months.   
  • Autograph (an NFT agency co-founded by Tom Brady) raised $170M in Series B.  While celebrity NFTs have had mixed results, Autograph is “essentially an agency go-between for celebrity athletes and entertainers looking to find a personal presence in the incredibly noisy NFT world” – basically an on-ramp if you will.  To me, this gets pretty interesting when you think about the new college rules allowing college athletes to make money by selling their name, image, and likeness (NIL) rights - basically the very definition of an NFT….  And Tom Brady certainly brings some legitimacy to these young athletes.   

 
 
Random Uncle Sean Stuff:

• I wonder how long it will be before we see manager level and above job postings that state “remote work experience required?”  It is certainly becoming a very unique skill set that is growing in demand.
• Is it weird that I still have my Christmas tree up?
• Okay – a couple of quick Dad Jokes:
  • I hear they aren’t making shortbread any longer….
  • My neighbor was having water issues so I sent him a “get well soon” card….
  • One snowman looks at the other snowman and says, “Do you smell carrots?”
  • The other day I grilled a chicken for two hours and he STILL wouldn’t tell me why he crossed the road!  😊

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

Happy Friday!!!
 
Just in case you forgot (LOL) – you can sign up here to have the Uncle Sean Update sent straight to your inbox each week.  Here is the Uncle Sean Update for 1/14/22:
 

• HEY, look who just got access to the Bankers Helping Bankers platform - Congratulations to Community Development Bankers Association (CDBA) for being the first national association to offer access to Bankers Helping Bankers to its CDFI-certified and mission-driven member banks across the United States.  Very EXCITING!!!!!

 

• A group of FDIC insured banks has launched the USDF Consortium to enable banks to mint USDF stablecoins and will facilitate payments on the open-sourced Provenance blockchain (originally created by Figure Technologies) on a real-time 24/7/365 basis .  Check out their Pitch Deck - DAMN THAT’S COOL!!!!
  • The Consortium’s founding banks include New York Community Bank (FDIC #16022; $58B Total Assets), NBH Bank (FDIC #59052; $7.1B Total Assets), FirstBank (FDIC #8663; $11.8B Total Assets), Sterling National Bank (FDIC #30337; $30B Total Assets), and Synovus Bank (FDIC #873; $55B Total Assets)
  • Additional founding members include Figure Technologies and the bank-owned venture fund JAM FINTOP

 
Yep, here it comes - Uncle Sean gives an unsolicited and rather punchy “off the rails” op-ed regarding USDF (which I love):

• This is happening – and it is happening now in mainstream banking.  To me, this was simply a matter of time; and is a massive step forward that I am happy and excited about….  I honestly feel like this could be one of those moments that we look back on where banking fundamentally changed forever – “blockchain enabled RTP 24/7/365 at the FDIC level” (and NOT just the big 4) whereas the stablecoin being issued is by a regulated bank with the added benefit of the collateral reserve backing of FDIC insurance AND covering AML and KYC (aka “TradFI street cred” for my DeFi fans – LOL)…  Welcome to the new breed of correspondent banking….
  • Banker friends, if you think Zelle is expensive (built by the big banks), how much do you think JPM is gonna’ charge you to settle payments in real-time on behalf of your customer using their Onyx blockchain rails???  You didn’t really think that JPM was developing this for the good of all banks (especially community banks), did you???  How’s that saying go – fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice….  Yep. 

• And of course Visa and Mastercard continue to work feverishly with banks and Central Banks globally to facilitate crypto and blockchain payments including CBDC testing (because legacy payment rails have the most to lose here if they fail to evolve).
• Certainly not inconsequential, the CSBS has dropped their lawsuit against the OCC now that Figure Technologies (yes, the same Figure involved with the USDF above) has amended their charter application to include FDIC insurance (exactly the same reason why Avanti plans to apply for FDIC insurance) – for the stablecoin.
  • Recall the President's Working Group - Report on Stablecoins where the recommendation to congress was to pass legislation stating that stablecoins can only be issued by regulated banks.
  • SEC Chairman, Gary Gensler, gave a speech this week titled "The Future of Crypto-Assets and Regulation" where he again reiterates that stablecoins should be issued by regulated banks.
• So to summarize:  1) Blockchain is here and it allows for real-time payments;  2) Stablecoins are digital assets that are designed to maintain a stable value generally relative to a national currency (i.e. USD) in order to facilitate trading, lending, or borrowing of other digital assets on blockchain networks, and;  3) Regulators are pushing for stablecoins to be issued by FDIC insured banks.  As such, banks are embracing this – so If you aren’t researching this, you probably should be.  WHEW – that was a ton of info – Uncle Sean needs a nap now!!!!! 😊

 

• Not really a surprise – December CPI came in this week at a smoking hot 7% annual basis (monthly CPI was 0.5%) and was the fastest increase since June 1982.  Core CPI came in at 5.5% year over year and 0.6% from last month.  Here is the BLS Detail if you like to get weird like me (you know it - LOL); and CNBC always has a good summary.

 

• Bank of America is the latest bank to reduce overdraft fees due to regulatory scrutiny.  BAC will lower overdraft fees from $35 to $10 and eliminate NSF fees entirely.  BAC is also eliminating transfer fees associated for overdraft protection with other linked accounts (their Balance Connect product).

 

• Coincidentally (yeah, right – cough, cough, cough), Wells Fargo also announced later that same afternoon that they are implementing a series of new actions to limit overdraft related fees and offer customers more flexible options for personal financial needs including:
  • Elimination of transfer fees for customers enrolled in Overdraft Protection from another linked account
  • Elimination of NSF fees when an item is returned unpaid
  • Early access to direct deposit
  • 24 hour overdraft grace period
  • Easy-access, short-term credit (small dollar installment loan up to $500)

 

• During senate confirmation hearings this week, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell again mentioned that the Fed report on CBDC should be delivered “within weeks”, but tempered expectations by stating it is "an exercise in asking questions and seeking input ... rather than taking a lot of positions."
  • Sounds similar to the previously released (and somewhat lacking in substance) 2-page Joint Statement on Crypto-Asset Policy Sprint Initiative and Next Steps that can pretty much be summarized as “greater clarity will be coming throughout 2022…”  *sigh* 

 

• Current is rolling out a new high-yield product called "interest" enabling account holders to earn a 4.00% APY on up to $2,000 for three different “savings pod” subaccounts.  Current’s free membership only allows one savings pod whereas the paid membership ($4.99 per month) allows for multiple savings pods.

 

• Notable FinTech funding for the week:
  • Checkout.com (full stack global payments platform) raised a massive $1B in Series D funding round at a $40B valuation – DANG!!!
  • JAM FINTOP Blockchain (tech focused VC firm) raised $110M
  • Novo (SMB neo bank) $70M in Series B funding round at a $700M valuation
  • Acorn Finance (embedded lending marketplace for home improvement financing) raised $8.4M in Series A funding
  • Brex announced $300M D-2.  Just to clarify - Uncle Sean previously (and incorrectly I might add) reported this as a series E in Oct.  Fact is that although the term sheet was signed in Oct, it was not publicly/officially disclosed by Brex until now.
  • Fly Now Pay Later (yep, you read that right) raised $75M in debt financing.  Recall a few months back where we
  • Zero Hash raised $105M in Series D
  • Accrue Savings (rewards based savings platform) raised $25M in Series A funding - literally dubbed as the “anti-BNPL” platform that rewards consumers for “saving now to pay later”.  Check them out at accruesavings.com.
  • Merit (verified identity platform) raised $50M Series B funding round
  • Seashell (high-yield investment app) raised $6M Seed round and is launching a high-yield product with up to 10% interest.  Doing some digging shows this is another DeFi application that is investing in a stablecoin.  I am not sure which one (product still shows as a “waitlist”), but custody and settlement services are provided by Prime Trust (a Nevada Regulated Trust).

 
 
Random Uncle Sean Stuff:

• Congratulations to the Georgia Bulldogs for beating Alabama 33 - 18 for their first College Football National Championship since 1980!  What a game – especially that second half!!!!  I have tremendous respect for Coach Saban and Alabama, but it was nice to see Georgia take care of business and avenge the Dec. 4 SEC Championship defeat by Alabama.  GO DAWGS!!!!
• DANG it’s been a busy whirlwind of a year already!!!!  Also – many of you know that Aunt Patty and I are very open people.  So, we wanted to say THANK YOU to all of you who have been inquiring about Aunt Patty (she had knee replacement surgery before Christmas on her right knee – and she gave me permission to post about it).  She is doing FANTASTIC and is already complaining about wanting the other one done ASAP!  She is a tough one!  Not to mention the fact that she really doesn’t like the way that I clean the house – LOL!!!!!  Thanks again!!!  😊

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

 Happy Friday!!!
 
Hey, hey, hey – we are officially underway for 2022!  Here is the Uncle Sean Update for 1/7/22:

• Special shout out to Independent Community Bankers of South Dakota for becoming the most recent association of community bankers offering access to the Bankers Helping Bankers platform this week for their member banks in South Dakota.  THIS is how we improve upon and save community banking – by participating as a community together and helping each other!!!!

 

• FDIC Chairman, Jelena McWilliams announced her resignation effective 2/4/22.  Current FDIC Board member, Martin Gruenberg (no stranger to the FDIC) is set to become the interim acting chair.  This sets up a number of potential appointments of very high profile bank regulatory leadership positions by the current presidential administration – which could get very interesting (to say the least) from a future policy setting perspective.  Vacancies include:
  • Vice Chairman for Supervision at the Federal Reserve
  • Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) – current Acting Comptroller is Michael Hsu
  • And of course, now, FDIC Chairman

 

• Chainalysis posted a blog this week stating that cryptocurrency-linked crime surged 79% over 2020 with illegal addresses receiving a record $14B in digital currencies.  However, in that same blog, Chainalysis stated that the increase in illicit activity was far less when considering the overall adoption rate and increase in transaction volume of cryptocurrency usage.  When analyzing in that light, illicit activity represented 0.15% of all transaction volume in 2021 versus 0.62% in 2020 showing a significant decline.
  • Digging into the data shows that DeFi scams (mainly rug pulls) and theft from hackers accounted for the majority of the $ increase.
  • Uncle Sean speculates that the rapid rise of unaccredited and uninformed retail investors seeking quick returns (meme coins anyone?) as well as easy mobile access has played a large part in this.  There is absolutely nothing new about people being attracted to the potential for quadruple digit returns with little to no effort – which is a fraudsters dream.  However, society has a tendency to learn painful financial lessons pretty dang quick (Nigerian Prince?). 

 

• FinTech challenger bank Dave (Nasdaq: DAVE) commenced trading this week after completing their SPAC merger.  Shares opened at $8.27 reflecting a market cap of $3.1B, but took an absolute beating on Friday with shares trading down as much as 36% intraday (at the time of this write-up).  OUCH!!!!

 

• The NCUA stayed busy over the New Year’s holiday cleaning up some very small CUs….
  • NCUA liquidated Portsmouth Schools FCU (charter #483; $2.2M assets; 870 members).  Assuming the liquidated CUs assets, member shares, and loans is Newport News Shipbuilding Employees Credit Union (charter #61330; dba BayPort Credit Union).  Bayport has 147,109 members and assets of $2.2B.
  • Pomona Postal FCU (charter #16196; total assets of $4M; 717 members; formerly placed into conservatorship on Nov. 5, 2021) was merged into Credit Union of Southern California (charter #68456; total assets $2.2B) effective Jan. 1, 2022 per the NCUA.

 

• Unifimoney announced that they have integrated with Q2 digital banking platform to offer digital wealth management solution to FI’s via Q2’s Innovation Studio.

 

• Customers Bank announced a couple of key initiatives this week:
  • Launched national Technology and Venture Banking Group employing a “stage-based approach” in assessing opportunities and risks offering “growth capital term loans, MRR credit facilities, ARR credit facilities, unitranche and FOLO credit facilities, revolving lines of credit – formula and non-formula, and traditional term loans.”
  • Deepens their crypto bench by adding seven key industry experts to their Digital Asset Banking Team and continues to expand their Customers Bank Instant Token (CBIT) enabling real-time payments for digital asset institutions.

 

• Computer Services, Inc. (CSI) announced a partnership with NYDIG to enable banking customers to buy, sell, and hold bitcoin directly within CSI’s digital banking platform.

 

• Chalk this one up to “hmmmm, this is getting interesting…”  Welcome to a new era of correspondent banking for real-time international payments via blockchain…  Probably because “SWIFT” just might be the biggest oxymoron ever (oops, did I just say that???) - LOL!!!!
  • This week the Central Bank of Bahrain said that they completed a successful test of international real-time payments to the U.S. with J.P. Morgan’s Onyx via the permissioned JPM Coin system that function as both payment rail and deposit account ledger.
  • If some of this sounds familiar, it is….  Recall just before the Holidays where we talked about JPM building out a blockchain payments system for Siemens via JPM’s Onyx blockchain unit.
  • I suspect that we will hear much more from JPM Onyx this year as the future of real-time international payments via blockchain is here.

 

• FinTech funding kicks off the new year in high gear:
  • Andreessen Horowitz (tech focused VC firm) announced a massive $9B raise to further invest in their Venture, Growth, and Bio Funds.  WOWZA!!!!!
    • “With these new funds, including a $1.5B Bio fund, $5B Growth fund, and $2.5B Venture fund, coupled with the $2.2B Crypto Fund and $400M Seed Fund we raised in 2021, we will continue to invest across the entire spectrum of stages, writing checks as small as $25,000 and up to hundreds of millions of dollars.”
  • Ribbit Capital (fintech focused VC firm) has $1.155B in capital for their seventh fund, Ribbit Capital VII, L.P.
  • Monzo (UK digital challenger – Monzo USA is still in “waitlist” mode) raised an additional $100M top-up funding to their latest round previously announced in early December – now totaling $600M
  • HUMAN Security (cybersecurity firm focused on sophisticated bot attacks and fraud) raised $100M in growth funding round.  Valuation was not disclosed but the firm stated 2021 revenue growth doubled year over year citing that “77% of all cyberattacks are bot-based. Cybercriminals with millions of sophisticated bots at their disposal can send billions of fake requests to create fake accounts, take over accounts and commit credit card fraud, manipulate popularity and consensus, contaminate user data, defraud digital advertising and marketing campaigns, and snipe or hoard online goods and services.”
  • Cion Digital (enterprise SaaS blockchain platform) raised $12M in Seed funding “to expand R&D resources and accelerate the rollout of crypto financing and payment solutions tailored for Financial Services companies (Lenders, RIA’s, Banks and Neobanks) and Big Ticket Retailers (Auto, RV/Marine, Jewelry and Luxury Goods) and to expand the capabilities of the firm’s proprietary Blockchain Orchestration Platform for other industries.”
  • OpenSea (NFT-marketplace) raised $300M in Series C funding round at a massive $13.3B valuation
  • Petal (credit card fintech) raised $140M in Series D round at an $800M valuation.  Petal uses an alternative cash flow based underwriting model to help consumers build credit resulting in strong customer growth of 3X and monthly revenue growth of 4X over 2020. 
  • Xage (zero trust cybersecurity) raised $30M in Series B funding round.  Valuation was not disclosed, but the firm cited 5X customer growth and 10X revenue growth year over year.
  • Alto (self-directed alternative investment IRA platform) raised $40M in Series B funding.  According to the article, Alto hosts nearly 20,000 funded accounts with almost $1B in assets even though the firm is not a registered investment advisor or broker-dealer – and 40% of the accounts are dedicated to holding cryptocurrency via Alto CryptoIRA.  Check them out at altoira.com for more info.
  • Tribal Credit (SME payment and corporate card platform for emerging markets) raised a combined $34.3M in Series A and debt rounds.  The Tribal Visa card is a business charge card issued by Sutton Bank.
  • Goldfinch (DeFi credit platform) raised $25M Series A extension bringing the total series A to $36M.  Loan volume has grown from $250K last year to $38M serving 200,000 borrowers in 18 countries.  Take a look at their whitepaper for more detail on the Goldfinch crypto lending architecture.

 
 
Random Uncle Sean Stuff:

• Corpus Christi’s Cole Park Pier re-opens!  Originally built in the 1930’s, the pier has been closed since 2018 after Hurricane Harvey caused structural damage.  Now completely rebuilt with fishing chairs, cleaning stations, shade cover, ample lighting, and security cameras.  Pretty sure I’m gonna’ have to make a weekend trip soon!!!!
• Of course we can’t kick off the new year without a few Dad Jokes:
  • What do you call electricians that are best friends?  Ohm-ies!  LOL!!!!!!
  • Aunt Patty caught me standing on the bathroom scale and sucking in my stomach.  She laughed and said, “You know that’s not going to help!”  I replied, “Sure it does.  It’s the only way I can see the numbers!”
  • This one definitely personifies Uncle Sean….  It’s probably my age that tricks people into thinking I’m an adult!!!  😊

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