Uncle Sean's Update - 10/4/24

Happy Friday!!!
 
The fallout from Hurricane Helene continues to be devastating – particularly to our friends in Eastern Tennessee / North Carolina state lines.  Here are a few places you can help if you choose - RedCross - Hurricane Helene and Salvation Army Hurricane Helene Relief; and this site from Good Morning America - Hurricane Helene - how to help has several more including some local organizations. ❤️🙏  Here is the Uncle Sean Update for 10/4/24:

• The headline story this week is we set a new record of Credit Unions acquiring banks 😲…  This week it is OneAZ Credit Union (Charter 61315; total assets $3.3B) to acquire 1st Bank Yuma (FDIC 57298; total assets $624M).
  • Keeping score – the new record of announced CU acquisitions of a bank is now at 17 so far for 2024 compared to 11 in 2023, 16 in 2022, 13 in 2021, 7 in 2020, and 16 in 2019 (source: FedFis).  I suspect we could see at least a few more prior to year-end.

• 👀 Check out Fiserv as they take a BIG link out of the payments supply chain with their newly approved special banking charter from the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance.  Per the article, Fiserv will now have direct access to card networks, and will no longer need to partner with banks to process card transactions.  Essentially allows Fiserv to own the transaction end-to-end enabling them to authorize, settle, and clear payments for merchants.
  • To be clear, this is a merchant acquirer limited purpose bank charter (MALPB) and not a full-fledged bank charter. 👍

• On the economic front…  The BLS Sept Jobs Report came in smoking hot 🔥 with 254,000 jobs added (+150,000 expected, +159,000 prior revised up from an initial +142,000, and July was also revised up to +144,000 from +114,000) and an unemployment rate of 4.1% (4.2% expected, 4.2% previously).  CNBC has a good summary.
  • On the revisions – keep in mind that the Jobs Report is always revised for two months following the initial estimates as more data becomes available.  If you want to geek out even more (like me 🤓), check out the 2024 BLS Revision History.

• There was a mega-merger announced in the CU space with Digital Federal Credit Union (Charter 23521; total assets $12B) and First Tech Federal Credit Union (Charter 19976; total assets $16.7B) to combine through a merger of equals with the combined organization operating under DCU’s charter and the First Tech Federal Credit Union name.  The newly combined entity will create a $28.7B credit union which would place them as the 6th largest CU in the Nation just behind Boeing Employees with $29.6B in total assets (source: FedFis).

• ICYMI - the OCC issued a bulletin this week providing guidance for managing credit risk associated with Refinance Risk for Commercial Loans.

• Jack Henry (Nasdaq: JKHY) and Victor offer embedded payments platform for FI’s to better support business customers (Victor is a division of MVB Bank).
  • Per the article, “Financial institutions on Jack Henry's SilverLake core can now leverage Victor's embedded payments platform, allowing corporate clients, software companies, and fintechs to seamlessly embed payments capabilities through a single API. The core integration allows for transaction-level, near real-time reconciliation, safeguarding the financial institution from clients spending funds they have not yet reconciled.”

• CSI announced their Mid-Year 1H2025 Fiscal Review with 18 new core deals and a 27% increase in its Hawthorn River customer base.  Nice work!!! 💪

• Zum Rails announced an expanded partnership with Fiserv as the primary transaction processor for Zūm Rails’ payments gateway enabling US businesses to facilitate accounts payable and receivable transactions, merchant onboarding, reporting, reconciliation and fraud management without relying on a bank or other third-party provider.  Combining Zum Rails’ payments gateway with the Fiserv payment facilitator model gives businesses a way to move money through every major U.S. payment network, among them Visa and Mastercard, the Automated Clearing House (ACH), FedNow, WEB Debit and PayPal.
  • “As companies look for new ways to own and strengthen their relationships with customers, there’s growing energy around embedding financial services directly within a software platform,” said Sunil Sachdev, Head of Embedded Finance, Fiserv. “By making capabilities from our merchant acceptance, banking, and card issuing businesses available to clients and partners through a curated set of APIs, we are helping these clients expand their service models, build deeper relationships with merchants, and significantly expanding the revenue potential associated with each relationship.”

• Our friends at FinGoal have linked up with Tyfone to provide community financial institutions on Tyfone’s digital banking services to deliver ultra-personalized financial insights to account holders.  Uncle Sean is not as smart (and not nearly as cool) as David Nohe and Jared Kopelman, but this sure smells like a great fit; and certainly a win for community FI’s! 🤘

• 💥 Congratulations are certainly in order as ZSuite Technologies continues their seemingly unstoppable march across the US! 🚀  This week Fulton Bank, N.A. (FDIC 7551; Total Assets $31.6B) announced the launch of Fulton Deposit Escrow Management.

• Prelim and IntraFi have partnered together to simplify reciprocal deposit account onboarding.  Very important as regulatory bodies continue their emphasis on liquidity and uninsured deposit exposures. 😊

• Orlando CU (Charter 68706) is launching a new direct bank platform appropriately named Digital Branch beginning Oct 31, 2024.  I couldn’t find much more detail on this, but Uncle Sean will be following the launch closely.    

• Ocean Bank (FDIC 24156; Total Assets $6.4B) joins NCR Atleos’ Allpoint Network which currently supports over 40,000 surcharge-free ATMs throughout the US.

• Lumin Digital and Rego Payment Architectures, Inc. announced a strategic partnership to offer Rego’s white-label family banking solution to banks and credit unions using Lumin’s digital platform.

• NCR Voyix (NYSE: VYX) has completed the previously announced sale of its digital banking unit and will be rebranded as Candescent.

• Oportun (Nasdaq: OPRT) announced an agreement to sell its credit card portfolio to Continental Finance.
  • Recall earlier this year (announced in Feb and closed in May) where Continental Finance also acquired the Today Card portfolio from Elevate Credit and Capital Community Bank.

 
 
Random Uncle Sean stuff:

• This looks pretty cool – Field & Stream brand has launched a new lodging / hospitality platform with a hunting and fishing lodge vibe equipped with modern conveniences targeting U.S. markets rich in natural experiences such as national parks, mountains, and ski towns.  Check out their first lodge located in Bozeman, MT.  I want to go!!!
• Okay – I may have to get one of these for nostalgia sake 🍔…  Wendy’s is releasing a "Krabby Patty Kollab" cheeseburger and a “Pineapple Under the Sea” flavored Frosty in honor of SpongeBob SquarePants 25th anniversary…  Parents everywhere can relate - all of our kids enjoyed SpongeBob but our oldest son, Marshall, was completely and utterly addicted to SpongeBob when it first came out.  I still remember the song all too well as it is seared into my memory from hearing it at least 1,000,000 times – LOL… ❤️🤠
  • 🎶 “Are you ready, kids?  Aye, aye Captain!  I can’t hear you!  AYE, AYE, CAPTAIN!!!  Ohhhhhhhh….  Who lives in a Pineapple under the sea?  SPONGEBOB SQUARE PANTS!!!  Absorbent and yellow and porous is he!  SPONGEBOB SQUARE PANTS!!!!  If nautical nonsense be something you wish.  SPONGEBOB SQUARE PANTS!!!  Then drop on the deck and flop like a fish!!!” 🎵 🤣  Play it again, Dad!!! ❤️
• And of course I have some Dad / Bad jokes and Uncle Sean wisdom (or lack thereof) to share:
  • The police just left…  Apparently if I’m going to walk around the house naked, I have to do it inside…  😮🤣
    • Speaking of nakedness…  How do nudists clean their glasses??? 🤔
  • The years have been good to me… It’s the weekends that have done the damage!!! 🤪
  • I really like oysters, but I have to wonder about the first person to ever open one and immediately think, “Mmhmmm, this pile of snot looks delicious!”  Don’t even get me started on the first person to eat a chicken egg after seeing where it came from…  And pretty sure the person who first discovered milk had some serious explaining to do… 😬😂

 
 
Have a GREAT weekend – don’t forget to go outside and play; 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.