Uncle Sean's Update - 1/23/26

Happy Friday!!!
 
As most of us in the US brace for an arctic blast 🥶 with snow and ice accumulations, please make sure to take care of yourselves!!!  Remember the four P’s (people, pets, pipes, and plants) and don’t forget to check on your neighbors – we are all in this together! 🙏  In the interim, here is the Uncle Sean Update for 1/23/26 (subscribe here for free):
 

• The BEA released the updated US 3Q2025 GDP of 4.4% which is up from the initial estimate of 4.3% and up from 2Q2025 of 3.8%.  Meanwhile the BEA released Oct and Nov 2025 PCE together (due to the government shutdown) showing a sticky 2.8% for Nov headline and core, both matching expectations and slightly higher than Oct 2.7% for each.

 

• 💥 One of the biggest headlines of the week is Capital One to acquire Brex for $5.15B in a 50/50 mix of stock and cash.  Although significantly down from Brex’s $12.3B valuation in 2022 following their $300M Series D-2 round, that is still an impressive price considering Brex launched in 2017.

 

• 👀 Ford and GM get their bank charters…  This week, the FDIC approved deposit insurance applications for Ford Credit Bank and GM Financial Bank – both as Utah ILC charters.
  • Certainly worth noting (be careful what you ask for):
    • Ford Credit Bank approval requires a whopping $1.5B (yes, BILLION 💰) in paid-in capital as well as maintaining a minimum tier 1 capital ratio of 15%.
    • GM Financial Bank requires $667M in paid-in capital and a minimum tier 1 capital ratio of 15%.

 

• More charter news…
  • UBS Bank USA (FDIC 57565; total assets $115B) has received conditional approval from the OCC to convert from a Utah ILC charter to a national OCC charter with the goal of securing final approval expected later this year.
  • Meanwhile….  Revolut is apparently shifting strategy on its US banking plans by dropping plans to acquire a US bank; and is now in discussions with the OCC to apply for a national bank charter.
  • 👉 But wait – there’s more!!!!  Affirm also announced they have submitted applications to establish Affirm Bank, as a Nevada-chartered ILC…

 

• While we are on the topic of charters…  Warning 🤠 – here comes an Uncle Sean “off the rails” commentary….
  • Which begs the question…  I wonder what Walmart is thinking right now…
    • More food for thought…  Are we, as a society and an industry, better off with Walmart providing full financial services via their own fintech company (OnePay), or as a directly regulated and chartered ILC bank??? 🤔  It might be time to revisit this as it is not the same environment as the last time Walmart applied for an ILC charter more than two decades ago (which was ultimately withdrawn) and set the industry on fire.  More interesting info here in this July 2024 Statement by (then) Vice Chairman Travis Hill, who is now the current Chairman of the FDIC.
      • Feel free to comment on the LI post or even email me directly and let me know your thoughts. 👍

 

• Speaking of Walmart…  Klarna will be rolling out after-purchase BNPL options soon allowing customers to convert purchases into installment loans after the transaction.  Klarna is launching the feature within Walmart’s fintech OnePay and is being called Swipe to Finance , “a new OnePay Later option that gives OnePay Cash customers the ability to pay over time after checkout.”

 

• 🎉 Hey Moov…  We see you 🏆!!!  Check out Moov’s new partnership with Apple to introduce Tap to Pay on iPhone with Moov.  Tap to Pay removes the need for dedicated payment terminals, transforming any iPhone into a point of sale (with a primary benefit being card-present interchange rates).  Nice!!!!

 

• Meanwhile, Block flexed 💪 this week by stating it had provided more than $200 Billion in credit to customers across its Cash App Borrow (short-term loans averaging 21 days, with 97% repayment rates despite 70% of borrowers having FICO scores below 580), Afterpay (BNPL with 96% of installments paid on time and 98% of purchases incurring no late fees), and Square Loans products (small business lending with less than 3% loss rates, with 58% going to women-owned businesses and 34% to minority-owned businesses). 👏

 

• Regions Bank (FDIC 12368; total assets $159B) partners with WorldPay, a Global Payments company, to enhance how Regions’ business clients, ranging from small businesses to major enterprises, accept payments and manage cash flow operations.

 

• North Brookfield Savings Bank (FDIC 900258; total assets $438M) selects Narmi to modernize its digital account opening for both consumer and business customers via the Narmi Grow platform that integrates directly with the bank's existing COCC core.

 

• Truity Credit Union (charter 3130; total assets $1.2B) selects InvestiFi to enable the credit union’s 75,000 members access to InvestiFi’s suite of digital investing and wealth management tools direct via Truity’s online and mobile banking platform. 🤙

 

• 👉 Shout-out to MANTL as The Atlantic Federal Credit Union (charter 477; total assets $243M) becomes the first credit union to go live with consumer loans on the MANTL Loan Origination Platform.

 

• The NCUA has also been busy with a couple of very small credit unions being conserved (not a failure) due to the standard “unsafe and unsound practices” verbiage” –  both CU’s have experienced profitability issues per their call report detail.
  • 1/16/26 – The NCUA has conserved People Trust Community Federal Credit Union (charter 24940; total assets $3.3M; total members 1,800).
  • 1/22/26 – The NCUA has conserved Beverly Hills City Employees Federal Credit Union (charter 9823; total assets $16.5M, total members 1,500).

 

• Notable FinTech funding for the week:
  • Credit Key (B2B payments and financing platform) raised $90M in growth capital.
  • Stream (fka Wagestream, a UK-based employee financial wellness platform) raised $90M in Series D round to fund expansion to the US market.

 
 
Random Uncle Sean stuff:

• Congrats to the Indiana Hoosiers 🏈 for winning the CFP National Championship Game in one of the most exciting football games that I can remember; and capping off what may truly be the most amazing turnaround of a college football program ever.
• PSA – I don’t know who needs to hear this (besides me), but don’t eat all the “emergency snacks” before the ice storm even hits!!! 😂🤣
• It’s starting to get cold outside, so let’s get on with the best part of the Update – the Dad / Bad Jokes:
  • If I had to describe myself in one word, it would be “does not follow instructions well.” 🤠
  • Saw a pack of gummy worms that read “no artificial flavor.”  Honestly, who buys gummy worms hoping they’d taste as close to real worms as possible? 😬
  • I ordered 2,000 pounds of Chinese soup… It was won ton… 😅
  • With great power comes great responsibility...  Nah, more like a huge electric bill… 😆
  • Interviewer:  We need a responsible person for this job…  Me: That’s me!  Every place I’ve worked if anything went wrong, they said I was responsible! 😂

 
 
Have a GREAT weekend and please stay safe AND WARM!
 
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