Uncle Sean's Update - 10/24/25

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 
 
Random Uncle Sean stuff:

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

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

 
 
Have a GREAT weekend and please stay safe!
 
Uncle Sean
 
Sometimes known as Sean Mayo – contact me directly for scope and pricing of custom reports / analysis projects at [email protected] | 214-604-6961 – or you can contact FedFis Sales Team at 512-960-0911 | [email protected] #FedFisHasTheData FedFis