Uncle Sean's Update - 10/11/24

​Happy Friday!!!
 
You can subscribe here for free to have the Uncle Sean Update and FinTech Cowboys interviews delivered straight to your inbox every week!  Here is the Uncle Sean Update for 10/11/24:
 

• Okay – I know this has been covered in great detail all week, so I will try to be brief…  ICYMI, TD Bank was hit with $3.1B in penalties and restricted asset growth over AML issues.  This has been expected for some time and TD had already set aside previous provisions of $3.05B. 
  • As part of the settlement, total assets of TD’s two US banking subsidiaries (TD Bank, NA and TD Bank USA, NA) cannot exceed a combined US$434B in assets.  A pretty big pain point since TD Bank has been growing rapidly in the US and is now the 10th largest bank domestically.  OUCH!!!!
    • Recall where Wells Fargo has been operating under an asset cap since 2018 and may finally get out of it next year…. Maybe… 😬
  • 👉 If you haven’t already, I 💯 recommend following Sarah Beth Felix on LinkedIn (she is the absolute BOMB 💥 in all things AML – and a super awesome person too!).  She has a great write-up of the OCC and FinCEN order for TD Bank – an incredibly valuable learning resource.
    • Shameless plug warning 😊…  Speaking of…  The legendary Sarah Beth Felix will be at The FedFis Roundup conference on our Night 1 Banker Panel open discussion??? 🤠 Always free for bankers - sign up here.  See ya there!!!!!

 

• 👀 And another CU acquisition of a bank this week breaking the record that we broke last week.  HAPO Community Credit Union (Charter 68239; Total Assets $2.4B) to acquire Community First Bank (FDIC 34627; Total Assets $632M).
  • Keeping score – the new record of announced CU acquisitions of a bank is now at 18 so far for 2024 compared to 11 in 2023, 16 in 2022, 13 in 2021, 7 in 2020, and 16 in 2019 (source: FedFis).

 

• On the economic front, the BLS Sept CPI Report shows inflation still coming down albeit ever so slightly but displaying some stickiness in Core…  CPI came in at 2.4% YoY (Aug was 2.5% and expectation was 2.3%) and 0.2% for September (Aug was 0.2% and expectation was 0.1%).  Core CPI rose 0.3% for the month and ticked up slightly to 3.3% YoY.  CNBC has a good summary.

 

• 👍 Good news – the CSBS is reporting that the third quarter 2024 Community Bank Sentiment Index (CBSI) moved up 11 points to 110.  This is the first time it has surpassed the neutral level of 100 since the fourth quarter of 2021, despite continued concerns about regulatory burden.
  • Yessir - a proper yield curve sure goes a long way in making bankers happy! 🤓🤑

 

• Shout out to Grasshopper Bank (FDIC 59113; Total Assets $836M) announcing a definitive agreement to acquire Auto Club Trust, FSB (FDIC 35115; Total Assets $484M).  This is the banks first acquisition since being established in May 2019; and one that makes sense as an expansion of Grasshopper’s embedded finance strategy to “6 million households and strengthens the lender’s position in digital banking through commercial, small business, and consumer product offerings digitally under the AAA brand” per this Banking Dive article.  Congrats! 🚀

 

• A couple of NCR Atleos wins this week:
  • CoreFirst Bank & Trust (FDIC 18100; Total Assets $1.2B) has joined the Allpoint Network of ATM’s operated by NCR Atleos.
  • NuMark Credit Union (Charter 61447; Total Assets $778M) has selected Atleos’ ATM as a Service (ATMaaS) and ITM as a Service (ITMaaS) to modernize its branch network.

 

• FinTech Automation announced the launch of their new innovative card issuance platform called ChargeIt™ designed to enable banks, neo-banks, and credit unions to issue tailored card programs for corporate brands.

 

• Plaid announced the launch of Pay by Bank for Bill Pay to help businesses capitalize on the opportunity of Pay-by-Bank recurring payments solution by providing consumers with a more seamless, cost-effective and secure way to pay bills, and to help businesses benefit from lower processing costs and fewer returns for all types of recurring payments.

 

• Venmo introduced the ability to schedule on-time or recurring payments or requests to schedule one-time or recurring P2P payments monthly, weekly, or bi-weekly in advance.

 

• Lakeside Bank (FDIC 19573; Total Assets $2.6B) selects Volante Technologies Payments-as-a-Service (PaaS) platform to enhance the banks SWIFT cross-border, RTP® real-time, and FedNow® instant payments “marking a significant advancement in Lakeside’s ability to offer best-in-class real-time treasury services to its customers.”

 

• Notable FinTech funding for the week:
  • Privacy Lock (data privacy and compliance solutions for FI’s) closed its Seed Round.
  • Mercury (business banking app) raised $100M credit warehouse facility to develop its credit card program.
  • Imprint (modern co-branded credit card platform) raised $75M in Series C round at a $600M valuation.
  • Zeal (modern payroll platform) raised $15M in Series B funding round.

 
 
Random Uncle Sean stuff:

• Agility Robotics shows off its "RoboFab" facility in Oregon where it plans to mass produce its first line of humanoid robots, called Digit.  Looking forward into the future, the goal is to have robots eventually building themselves….  Dude – I’m just happy it doesn’t look like the Terminator (uh, no red eyes please)…  Yet!!! 😲🤖
  • Speaking of…  Did you see Tesla's Robotaxi event this week?  More specifically the Optimus Robot or the Robovan???
    • I mean seriously…  Has anyone even seen the movie I, Robot???  LMAO!!!! 🤣
• 🏈 Last weekend was a crazy weekend in college football with 4 of the top 11 teams being upset by unranked teams.  The most impressive underdog victory was Vanderbilt taking down #1 Alabama 40-35.  Joining the list of upsets were #4 Tennessee (lost to unranked Arkansas), # 10 Michigan (lost to unranked Washington), and #11 USC (lost to unranked Minnesota).
  • Next up this Saturday is OU versus Texas in the Red River Rivalry where Texas is heavily favored, but anything can happen in this game!
• Okay – on to the good stuff…  The Dad / Bad Jokes:
  • I don’t mind getting older, but my body is having an absolute hissy fit over it! 🙄
  • My grandmother made it to 100 yesterday – and that’s the last time I get in the car with her when she’s late for bingo!!! 😲🙃
  • Do railroad workers have to be trained…??? 🚂😏
  • The dentist told Aunt Patty she needed a crown…  She was like, I know – right!!! 👑😂

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