Uncle Sean's Update - 12/19/25

Happy Friday!!!
 
Just a quick PSA to let everyone know this will be the last Uncle Sean Update for two weeks 😲 as I enjoy some family time over the holidays – I’ll be back with a new update on Jan 9th.  Wishing everyone a VERY Merry Christmas 🎅🎄 and a Happy New Year 🎉🙏!!!  But first - here is the Uncle Sean Update for 12/19/25 (subscribe here for free):

• Hey – we finally got a look at some macroeconomic data (post government shutdown)…  Even though many economists are side-eyeing the data 🤔, it’s all we have so let’s take a look:
  • The BLS Nov CPI Report came in a bit on the cool side at 0.2% for the month and 2.7% YoY (expectation was 0.3% and 3.1% respectively).  Core CPI came in at 0.2% for the month and 2.6% YoY (expectation was 0.3% and 3.0% respectively).  CNBC has a pretty good summary.
  • Meanwhile, the BLS Jobs Report was a mixed bag with Nov coming in at +64K (Dow Jones estimate was +45K) while Oct showed a loss of -105K (pretty close to expectations due to government job cuts – DOGE buyouts).
    • Our next FOMC meeting is scheduled for Jan 27-28, 2026.

• De Novo news - PayPal (Nasdaq: PYPL) announced it has submitted applications to the Utah DFI and the FDIC to establish PayPal Bank, a proposed Utah-chartered ILC with a focus on US small businesses.  Per the release, “In addition to providing small business lending solutions, PayPal Bank expects to offer interest-bearing savings accounts to customers. PayPal Bank would also seek direct membership in the U.S. with card networks to complement processing and settlement activities through existing banking relationships.”
  • PayPal’s current embedded BaaS providers are Synchrony Bank, WebBank, and The Bancorp Bank.

• More De Novo news - Mercury announced it has submitted applications to the FDIC and OCC to establish Mercury Bank, a nationally chartered bank “for ambitious companies and individuals.” 
  • Mercury’s current embedded BaaS providers are Choice Financial Group, Column N.A., and Patriot Bank.

• And MORE De Novo news – Erebor Bank has received conditional approval for FDIC insurance subject to the bank having paid-in capital of not less than $276M (wow), a “Capital Call Agreement” subject to trigger events (out of the ordinary), Tier 1 Leverage ratio of at least 12%, and other customary conditions.

• 💥 Big news for my friends at Atomic as Truist Bank (FDIC 9846; total assets $536B) streamlines digital account opening with direct deposit switching powered by Atomic!

• And more good news for Atomic as F.N.B. Corporation (NYSE: FNB), the holding company for First National Bank of Pennsylvania (FDIC 7888; total assets $50B), announced the launch of automated Payment Switch technology in partnership with Atomic! 🚀

• LoanPro partners with Mastercard to launch Loan on Card solution (coming early 2026) enabling lenders to deliver installment loan proceeds to borrowers through virtual and physical cards – providing instant access to funds that can be used anywhere Mastercard is accepted.

• Stablecoin news – SoFi (Nasdaq: SoFi) announced the launch of SoFiUSD, a fully reserved U.S. dollar stablecoin issued by SoFi Bank, N.A. (FDIC 26881; total assets $41.3B) on the Ethereum blockchain.  “SoFiUSD will enable SoFi to serve as a stablecoin infrastructure provider for banks, fintechs, and enterprise platforms.”

• More stablecoin news – Cross River Bank (FDIC 58410; total assets $8.1B), using its recently announced stablecoin payments infrastructure solution, announced a new stablecoin settlement capability with Highnote as part of Visa’s stablecoin settlement pilot program.

• 👉 And MORE stablecoin news…  👀 But this one is a bit different….  The punchline - A bank run on a stablecoin reserve custodian resulted in contagion in the DeFi sector….  Wow – say that out loud three times (Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice)… 😬
  • The Federal Reserve issued a new report that is definitely worth a quick read - In the Shadow of Bank Runs: Lessons from the Silicon Valley Bank Failure and Its Impact on Stablecoins and shows that stablecoins “represent a run-able liability for their issuers. As with money market funds and bank deposits, stablecoins are susceptible to crises of confidence, contagion, and self-reinforcing runs.” 😲 (bold emphasis added by Uncle Sean).
    • Somehow I missed this during the SVB bank run – “Circle, the issuer of USDC, publicly announced that it was unable to access a portion of its dollar reserves held as (uninsured) deposits at SVB. This announcement precipitated a surge in redemption requests by holders of USDC, causing the stablecoin to lose its peg against the dollar on secondary markets when Circle shut down primary market operations over the weekend.”

• Lumin Digital launches a suite of AI tools in their digital banking platform enabling their clients to adopt AI at their own pace, including: Target Manager Assistant, Secure Form Assistant, and FAQ Assistant.

• MANTL (an Alkami brand) has partnered with Method Financial to embed Method’s real-time liability data “directly into the MANTL Loan Origination platform, empowering financial institutions to streamline decisioning…”

• Fiserv (Nasdaq: FISV) has completed their acquisition of StoneCastle extending greater insured deposit limits, liquidity and digital assets solutions to financial institutions; and introducing deposit liquidity / cash management options for merchants.

• Effective Jan 1, 2026 - Lewis & Clark Bank will become part of Maps Credit Union (Marion and Polk Schools CU; charter 64166) due to the completion of the merger that was announced earlier in the year.

• Mesa abruptly shuts down its Homeowners Card credit card platform that rewarded cardholders for paying their mortgage.  No specific reason as to why just yet, but there are other pending / launching CC rewards platforms focused on homeowners in the last couple of weeks pointing towards a competitive market:
  • Bilt has announce their Bilt Card 2.0 card program launching in early Feb that earns points on eligible residential mortgage payments.
  • Just before Thanksgiving, Made Card announced the launch of their Made Essential Visa Signature Preferred Card (along with $8M in seed funding) credit card allowing homeowners to earn rewards tied to making on-time mortgage payments as well as other everyday homeowner spending.  The launch also coincided with the release of the Made mobile app that goes beyond financial services “by introducing AI-enabled home journal and concierge chatbot functionalities, designed to simplify and enhance the homeowner experience.”

• Notable FinTech funding for the week:
  • Octane (lending platform for powersports vehicles, RVs, boats, personal watercraft, and outdoor power equipment) raised $100M in Series F growth funding at a $1.3B valuation.
  • Thread Bancorp (bank holding company for BaaS focused Thread Bank – FDIC 9499; total assets $823M) raised a $30.5M funding round following significant growth in deposits from embedded finance / BaaS of “more than three times from January 2024 - October 2025, an approximately 75% annualized growth rate.”
  • Imprint (modernized co-branded CC platform for brands) $150M in Series D round at a $1.2B valuation.

 
 
Random Uncle Sean stuff:

• For all the daylight lovers out there (like me 😊), winter solstice is this Sunday so the daylight hours will finally start to increase!!! 🌞
• Okay – lets get to the good stuff!  Here are the Dad / Bad jokes for the week:
  • What do you get when you cross a turtle with a porcupine?  A slowpoke…  🙄🐢
  • Can anyone recommend a good bank account?  Mine ran out of money!!! 😂
  • Sent to me from my friend Mr. Rick Boals is a timeless quote from Peter Drucker – “the most successful people are those who are good at plan B.” 😅
  • Some people drink from the well of knowledge…  Some just rinse and spit! 😆🤣
  • For anyone else that’s getting coal for Christmas – maybe we can get together and get the grill going or something?!?! 🤠😁🍺

 
 
Have a Merry Christmas, a Happy New Year, 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