Uncle Sean's Update - 10/6/23

Happy Friday!!!
 
Holy smokes it was a SUPER busy week – so let’s jump right into it.  Here is the Uncle Sean Update for 10/6/23:
 

• FIntegrate Technology announced a new strategic partnership with CSI to streamline data integration and enhance fraud prevention by leveraging FIntegrate’s Integration Manager™ alongside CSI's WatchDOG® fraud and AML solutions.  Uncle Sean loves to see this - two good companies doing good things to help financial institutions!  😊

 

• Oof 😬…  The BLS released their September Jobs Report showing the economy added a whopping 336K jobs which is almost 2X the estimate of 170K – WOWZA!!!  Adding more “fuel to the Fed fire”, Aug actual was revised up to 227K from 187K.  Unemployment remained flat at 3.8%.  The good news is that wage growth was “somewhat” suppressed at only 0.2% for the month and 4.2% YoY which was below expectations.  CNBC has a good summary.
  • Of course treasury yields spiked on the news…  So, pardon me while I “micro manage the macro data” 🤓 (if you listen closely you can practically “hear” Aunt Patty rolling her eyes – LOL)….. 
    • 2/10 spread is now under 30 bps at 27 (intraday at the time of this writing) as term premium continues to push yield on the long end and flatten the yield curve.
      • US10Y yield bumped up above 4.8% (compared to 6/30/23 close of 3.841% - an increase of 25%) – source: cnbc.com/quotes/US10Y
    • Compounding the rate squeeze (not just existing bondholders getting pinched), the Mortgage Bankers Association is reporting that mortgage demand has dropped to the lowest level since 1996 as rates push towards 8+% for 30 year mortgage.  OUCH!!!!

 

• RiskScout announces Launch program “designed to streamline BSA compliance by increasing accessibility to the company's cutting-edge BSA & Optimization system, the Launch program offers prospects the opportunity to get started in as little as one day, all at lower entry prices and with no long-term commitment.”  Nice triple-whammy!!!! 🏆

 

• Hawthorn River announced an expanded partnership with CSI by integrating Hawthorn River's “proprietary document tracking system with CSI's document imaging platform, CenterDoc 2.0, in a new solution that eliminates the need for tedious manual scanning and indexing of documents.”

 

• Helix by Q2 (NYSE: QTWO) helps Wysh to launch Savings+ - Wysh’s new high-yield savings account coupled with embedded life insurance.

 

• BHG Financial partners with Cable to “integrate Cable’s financial crime effectiveness testing platform to enhance its robust financial crime compliance program with cutting-edge automated assurance and testing capabilities.”

 

• Stockpile (online brokerage with family investing and financial literacy app) partners with Green Dot (NYSE: GDOT) to introduce new “products, tools and features aimed at making investing and personal finance more accessible to consumers of all ages” via Green Dots banking-as-a-service (BaaS) platform. 

 

• RentSpree (end-to-end rental management software) launches Credit Builder, a rent reporting feature to enhance renters credit by automatically reporting rent payments to TransUnion.  Uncle Sean is a fan of credit building products that do not entice consumers to incur debt. 👍

 

• PayZen launched the PayZen Care Card and mobile app - an interest-free embedded patient financing solution for healthcare providers.  As a “care-now-pay-later” solution, PayZen pays the healthcare provider up front and establishes a payment plan with the patient customer using AI to underwrite a non-recourse transaction (PayZen assumes the payment risk).

 

• Lithic (BaaS infrastructure) expands beyond cards by announcing Lithic Accounts and ACH.

 

• Yo, yo, yo – check out the O.G. “J-Pow” keeping it real at the F-E-D!!!! 🤘 All kidding aside, Uncle Sean applauds the Federal Reserve Board for launching on Instagram and Threads with the goal of increasing the accessibility and availability of FRB news and educational content.  The video in the link is pretty cool as Chairman Jerome (Jay) Powell reminds us that October is National Economic Education Month.
  • The FRB now has a social media presence on LinkedIn, X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, Instagram, Threads, YouTube, and Flickr – WOW!!!  Good work raising awareness of Fed decisions through education and content!!! 😊

 

• Speaking of…  The Federal Reserve announced that the FedNow® Service hits new milestone since their July launch with 108 financial institutions sending and receiving on the network.  The article goes on to point out that “In addition, 21 financial institutions are providing liquidity and settlement services, and 20 service providers are supporting payment processing in the instant payments infrastructure.”
  • The current full list of FedNow® participants can be found here.

 

• Personnel moves:
  • Monzo hires Conor Walsh as its new US CEO having recently served as Head of Global Product at Cash App.
  • Pathward hires Greg Sigrist as EVP and CFO beginning 11/1/23 as Glen Herrick plans to retire on 12/31/23.

 

• Notable FinTech funding for the week:
  • Grow Credit (credit builder card platform) raised $10M in Series A funding round.
  • Stampli (AI-powered B2B payables automation platform) raised $61M in Series D funding.
  • Revio (sales and marketing enablement software for banks by analyzing customer transaction data) raised $2.5M in Series A funding round.
  • Rainforest (embedded payments for software platforms) raised $8.5M in Seed funding plus an additional $3.25M debt facility.

 
 
Random Uncle Sean stuff:

• 🏈NFL Hall of Fame linebacker and Chicago Bears legend, Dick Butkus, passed away this week at the age of 80.  His legacy also carries on through the Butkus Award, which was founded in 1985 and is awarded every year to the best linebacker at the professional, college, and high school levels.  Did you know that he was married to his high school sweetheart, Helen, for 60 years?  Rest in peace Mr. Butkus, and thank you for the memories.
• And more football - 🏈🏈…  Down here in Texas, there is an annual occurrence each October shortly after the weather pattern changes that makes everyone a little bit more fidgety.  It’s a unique cultural phenomenon that stimulates the deepest of primal emotions, raises the hair on the back of your neck, and makes your heart race as goose bumps run down your arms…  It’s almost always accompanied by the sweet smell of BBQ smoke in the air; and gatherings of friends and loved ones – and for the moment, foes….  Yep, it’s the 2023 Red River Rivalry (those Twitter X and YouTube videos in that link are awesome), the annual college football matchup between Oklahoma and Texas – a rivalry that has been played uninterrupted since 1929 for a total of 118 games as of 2022, and the last of the Big 12 era as both teams depart to the SEC next year.
  • Even the SEC can’t wait as they released their OU vs Texas hype video - coming soon 2024…
• Playing chicken… 🐔🍗  Popeyes surpassed KFC to claim the #2 spot in the US chicken chain wars.  Worth noting, however, that both Popeyes and KFC have lost market share to a dominate #1 Chick-fil-A over the past year.  It’s good to be the king!
• Okay, okay – some quick Dad / Bad Jokes:
  • Is it bad if my life coach just told me I didn’t make the team??? 🤣
  • I bet Jellyfish are sad that there are no peanut butter fish….
  • This one comes in courtesy of my friend Cal Roberson…  “Did you hear about the girl who only eats plants?  You’ve probably never heard of herbivore…”  LOL – I love that one!!!  Thanks, Cal!!!
  • Ranchers keep accurate records of their herd by using a cowculator…. 🤠

 
 
Have a GREAT weekend and please stay safe – oh and…  BOOMER SOONER!!!  BEAT TEXAS!!!!
 
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.