Uncle Sean's Update - 11/21/25

Happy Friday!!!
 
We will be pausing the Update next week for the Thanksgiving Holiday. So from our family to yours – I hope you have a wonderful, happy, and blessed Thanksgiving with lots of love, laughter, and full bellies! 🙏🍂🦃 But first - Here is the Uncle Sean Update for 11/21/25 (subscribe here for free):
 

• Mr. Warren Buffett pens his final shareholder letter (but will continue with an annual Thanksgiving message). My personal favorite part of the letter is a message for all of us in this season of thanks – delivered in classic Buffett fashion:
  • “Greatness does not come about through accumulating great amounts of money, great amounts of publicity or great power in government. When you help someone in any of thousands of ways, you help the world. Kindness is costless but also priceless. Whether you are religious or not, it’s hard to beat The Golden Rule as a guide to behavior. I write this as one who has been thoughtless countless times and made many mistakes but also became very lucky in learning from some wonderful friends how to behave better (still a long way from perfect, however). Keep in mind that the cleaning lady is as much a human being as the Chairman.” ❤️ Love this…

 

• The much delayed BLS Sept Jobs Report (data collected prior to the government shutdown) shows the US added 119,000 jobs (expectation was 50,000) and unemployment edged up slightly to 4.4% (previous was 4.3%).
  • However – prior revisions were once again material (see revision history) with August initial estimate of +22K was revised down by 26K to a total of -4K jobs lost; and Jul was revised down by 7K from the second estimate to 72K jobs added.
  • Note that the BLS is stating an Oct Jobs Report will not be released and the Nov report will be released on Tuesday, Dec 16th – 11 days later than usual. Keep in mind that the next FOMC meeting is Dec 9th so the Fed will still largely be “driving in fog” with respect to current (or lack thereof) economic data. 🤷‍♂️

 

• First announced in 2023, LevelField Financial was approved by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation to acquire Burling Bank (FDIC 27556; total assets $196M) to be renamed LevelField Bank with banking services targeting crypto and the digital assets space including loans and credit cards collateralized by bitcoin, bitcoin rewards credit and debit cards, digital asset trading and custody.
  • This Banking Dive article is a good summary including pending Federal Reserve approval (to become a bank holding company), additional capital commitments, and hiring needs to support 24-7 needs of its digital-asset user base.

 

• Traditional Bank (FDIC 2711; total assets $2.4B) selects Jack Henry for core processing.

 

• Lumio and Revio Insight partner together to help banks and credit unions (community financial institutions) to identify customers leaving for competitors and take timely action to win them back. 👏

 

• 👀 And a pair of CU acquisition of a bank this week…  If you are keeping score, these are the 12th and 13th announced CU acquisition of a bank thus far for 2025 (whole bank acquisition).  This compares to 22 for 2024, 11 in 2023, 16 in 2022, 13 in 2021, 7 in 2020, and 16 in 2019 (source: FedFis M&A database).  Both of these transactions are very stereotypical CU acquisitions of a bank that include: much larger CU acquiring a small bank; low-cost deposits; additional commercial portfolio; and market expansion for branch footprint.

 

• GECU Federal Credit Union (charter 24941; total assets $4.4B) to acquire Bank of the Southwest (FDIC 2247; total assets $187M) from New Mexico National Financial Incorporated (PCO FR 2013947).
  • The target bank is profitable and well capitalized (FedFis Rating© of 1.92), but has struggled with any prospect of loan growth since well before the pandemic.  Deposit growth has also been slightly benign, but a huge shift to noninterest bearing deposits since 2022.
  • Target bank NIM is strong at 6.88% with yield on loans at 7.94% and cost of funds at an impressive 0.07% (not a typo).  This is clearly a low-cost deposit grab by the CU; as well as a branch footprint expansion outside of Texas into New Mexico.
  • Loan profile of the target bank is 75% Real Estate with 36% of total loans being CRE (2/3rds of that in nonowner occupied) and 28% of total loans being Domestic 1-4 Family Loans.
    • This pairs nicely with the acquiring CU as they will diversify their existing concentration in Vehicle Loans of 54% of total loans (new vehicle is 22% of total loans and used is 33%).  The CU also has 15% of total loans in 1-4 Family Residential and 12% in Commercial.

 

• Next up is Community First Credit Union of Florida (charter 67290; total assets $2.9B) to acquire First Southern Bank (FDIC 10055; total assets $324M) from FSBH Corporation (PCO FR 5685653).
  • Another stereotypical CU acquisition of a very small bank ($324M total assets) by a much larger CU (total assets $2.9B) with the CU expanding its market (branch footprint) from Jacksonville, FL to include Waycross, GA.  The CU is picking up some commercial loans (CRE) and lower cost deposits.
    • The target bank is profitable (post-pandemic) and well capitalized with a FedFis Rating© of 2.34.  The bank has experienced solid loan growth since 2019 with concentrations in CRE (38% of total loans with mostly owner-occupied) and Home Mortgages of 29% of total loans.
      • Also pairs well with the acquiring CU as they have concentrations in Home Mortgages of 33% of total loans plus 20% New Vehicle loans and 17% Used Vehicle Loans as a percentage of total loans.
    • Target bank NIM is 4.57% with yield on loans (tax adjusted) at 7.18%.  Deposit profile is 34% noninterest bearing with a Cost of Funds of 1.92% (cost of total deposits is 1.27%).  Acquiring CU has a Cost of Shares & Deposits of 1.66%.

 

• And more CU headlines as Gather Federal Credit Union (charter 9381; total assets $889M) has selected Tyfone’s nFinia™ Digital Banking platform to power its next-generational mobile and online banking experience for retail and business members.
  • This is a strong win for Tyfone as the legacy core provider had a strategic position (same vendor for core, online, and mobile) – which can be difficult to break into sometimes.  For more information on Bank and CU vendor / technology stack, reach out to our own Bobby Button and ask about our FedFis FinTegration ​Ecosystem© (nice plug if I do say so myself! 😊).

 

• My friends at Vine Financial continue to sign up financial institutions across the nation – check out their AI-driven enhanced credit and underwriting platform for commercial lending at vinefin.com (tell them Uncle Sean sent you 🤠). This week it’s Ipava State Bank (FDIC 10473; total assets $215M) selects Vine for AI-powered underwriting for its commercial lending business.

 

• More credit news as FICO (NYSE: FICO) partners with Plaid to launch the UltraFICO® Score that maps real time cash flow insights into the proven FICO® Score scale – distributed via Plaid’s Consumer Reporting Agency, Plaid Check.

 

• 👉 Uptiq announced the launch of AI FinServ Launchpad – a platform designed to help fintech founders turn financial workflow expertise into AI-native products — without needing to hire engineering teams, build infrastructure, or secure major early-stage funding.  Includes pilot opportunities through Uptiq’s network of 150+ financial institutions; up to $100K worth of in-kind product development support; and early access to Uptiq’s QORE platform.  Check it out at uptiq.ai/launchpad.

 

• Amscot Financial partners with Green Dot (NYSE: GDOT; FDIC 22653; total assets $5B) to bring modern embedded banking solutions to Amscot’s customers “including a DDA, a built-in secured credit card, a network of more than 25,000 free in-network ATMs, and additional features to come.”  Powered by Green Dot’s embedded finance platform, Arc.

 

• Notable FinTech funding for the week:
  • Kraken raised $800 Million at a $20 Billion valuation and subsequently filed a confidential draft S-1 registration statement with the SEC for a potential IPO.
  • Ramp raised $300 Million at a $32 Billion valuation.
  • Kaaj (agentic AI platform for small business credit underwriting and loan origination) raised $3.8M in Seed funding.
  • Coverbase (AI procurement and risk platform for highly regulated, security-conscious sectors such as financial services) raised $16.5M in Series A funding round.
  • Made Card (credit card for homeowners) launches with $8M In Seed Funding.

 
 
Random Uncle Sean stuff:

• With Turkey Day coming up next week, here is what’s on the menu at our house:  Cajun smoked turkey, deviled eggs, burgundy mushrooms (pairs great with smoked tri-tip which I am certain Parker Mayo will force me to cook at some point over the weekend LOL), mashed potatoes, green bean bundles, garlic bread, and of course a key lime pie and maybe a pecan pie too. Nom, nom, nom!!! 😋 Oh – and lots of football!!!! 😊  Aunt Patty’s favorite is making turkey hash from the leftovers after a couple of days once we are tired of leftover turkey sandwiches – It’s kind of like a turkey and potato stew (but I like to add plenty of sliced jalapeno’s in mine with a side of cornbread). Time to break out the stretchy pants!!!! 😄
• And of course here are the Dad / Bad jokes to kick off the holiday week:
  • There should be a dating app that matches people who are on the same meds… Call it: ‘Relationscripts’ 😜🤪
  • And a holiday reminder – If your birth year starts with a 19, you should probably wrap your presents on a table, not on the floor! 😬
  • Scientists recently combined DNA of a cheetah with the DNA of a crab… Things went sideways real fast!!! 🦀😅
  • Did you know that 14 muscles are used when you open a bottle of wine? Okay – I completely made that up, but be sure to follow me anyway for more holiday fitness ideas!!! 🍷🤠💪

 
 
Have a GREAT weekend, a WONDERFUL THANKSGIVING ❤️, 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