Uncle Sean's Update - 12/5/25

Happy Friday!!!
 
Back from Turkey Day – we are now full steam ahead into the holiday season!  Here is the Uncle Sean Update for 12/5/25 (subscribe here for free):

• 💥 Shoutout to Coverbase as they become the newest Premier Sponsor of Bankers Helping Bankers (BHB) in support of BHB’s mission to provide free access to reliable data, strategy, and intelligence to help community banks across the country grow, compete, and thrive!!! 🚀
  • “With AI-native automation, configurable workflows, and continuous monitoring, Coverbase transforms supplier onboarding, diligence, and lifecycle oversight from a compliance bottleneck into a strategic advantage.”  Check them out at coverbase.com!

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• 👀 Green Dot Corporation (NYSE: GDOT; Green Dot Bank FDIC 22653; total assets $5B) has entered into agreements to be acquired by Smith Ventures and CommerceOne Financial Corp.  Smith Ventures will acquire and privatize Green Dot’s non-bank fintech business (Arc); and CommerceOne will acquire Green Dot Bank and become a new publicly traded bank holding company.
  • The new bank holding company will also be the fintech’s exclusive sponsor bank under a seven-year agreement; and will strive to add additional fintech partners going forward.

 

• 👉 Equipifi continues its march across the US with a pair of BNPL announcements (fully integrated in-house solution) just in time for holiday shopping:
  • Advia Credit Union (charter 61503; total assets $3.7B) launches BNPL powered by equipifi to enable its 200,000 members to divide eligible purchases into manageable installment payments directly from their existing Advia Digital Banking experience.
  • Yolo Federal Credit Union (charter 9293; total assets $415M) introduces BNPL powered by equipifi allowing its members to “split eligible debit card purchases into easy, predictable installment payments within Yolo FCU’s secure Mobile and Online Banking platforms. Members can also use Yolo FCU’s BNPL program to instantly receive extra funds in their Checking Account prior to making a purchase.”

 

• Speaking of rapid growth…  InvestiFi partners with Sesimi to enable InvestiFi to deliver compliant, customizable marketing assets for its FI customers at scale, without compromising regulatory disclosure requirements or brand control. 
  • “InvestiFi's customers, including financial institutions and credit unions, require on-brand content that's not only customizable but also fully compliant with industry standards. Sesimi addresses this by embedding locked disclosures and compliance language into dynamic templates, ensuring that every asset meets legal requirements without delaying go-to-market speed and eliminating the need for lengthy approval processes.”

 

• Socure (AI-platform for identity, compliance, and risk decisioning) announced they have acquired Qlarifi (real-time BNPL consumer credit database) creating a compliant risk-decisioning BNPL infrastructure platform that also helps to reduce fraud losses.  Nice!!!

 

• Organizers have filed applications to the OCC and FDIC to establish VALT Bank – a de novo digital bank focused on serving “digitally demanding small to midsized businesses” in the U.S. 👏

 

• Cross River Bank (FDIC 58410; total assets $8.1B) launches stablecoin payment infrastructure solution.  “Integrated directly with Cross River’s real-time core, COS, the offering unifies fiat and stablecoin flows through a single, interoperable system—enabling companies to move value across chains and traditional rails, leveraging bank-grade compliance.”

 

• Klarna launches KlarnaUSD stablecoin to cut costs of cross-border payments – partnering with Stripe (Bridge) and Paradigm on the Tempo payments blockchain.

 

• 🤷‍♂️ In the meantime….  The Federal Reserve Senior Financial Officer Survey Results (Sept 2025) shows a vastly different opinion to the development of digital asset-related products and services over the next three years (ref Part 4: Stablecoins and Digital Assets beginning on page 25) 🤔:
  • Only 8% of US banks surveyed view the issuance of tokenized deposits as a high priority
  • No (zero) US banks view the issuance of their own stablecoin as a high priority
  • Only 7% of US banks place a high priority on offering crypto custody or wallet services

 

• The Fed, FDIC, and OCC have proposed lowering the community bank leverage ratio (CBLR) requirement from 9% to 8%. It would also extend the grace period for community banks that opt into the framework and fall out of compliance to come back into compliance, from two quarters to four quarters.

 

• The Fed’s Nov Beige Book (last one of 2025 and just ahead of the FOMC meeting next week) paints a continuing difficult picture for the Fed with consumers feeling strained (declines in overall consumer spending and employment) while moderate price increases persist…  This will likely continue to divide FOMC participants in their dual mandate of price stability and maximum employment.

 

• Coinstar selects Lithic to power the new CINQ by Coinstar™ Debit Card (prepaid GPR issued by Lead Bank).

 

• Klarna launches Premium and Max memberships in the U.S. – a subscription plan that offers lounge access and premium perks without spending requirements for customers of the Klarna Card (debit card with built-in BNPL installment options issued by WebBank).
  • Per the release, “U.S. consumers who sign up for the Klarna Card can also opt into any of Klarna's four membership plans—Core ($4.99 /month), Plus ($9.99/month), Premium ($19.99 /month), or Max ($44.99 /month)—during the sign-up process.”

 

• 🤔 Hmm…  SoFi Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: SOFI; bank sub is SoFi Bank, N.A. – FDIC 26881, total assets $41.3B) is raising capital via an announced public offering of $1.5 billion of shares of its common stock.

 

• Wealthfront filed their Amended S-1 filing making public (had previously filed confidentially in June) they are targeting a valuation of $2.05B 💰 and will list on the Nasdaq exchange under the ticker WLTH.

 

• The FDIC released their Quarterly Banking Profile report for 3Q2025.  Some key points:
  • Bank earnings are up due to lower provision expense (yes – even when you back out the large jump in provision expense last quarter related to the Capital One acquisition of Discover).
  • NIM continues to increase at 3.34% (community bank NIM increased to 3.73%) despite COF increasing 2bps even though the FOMC has been reducing rates (points towards continued deposit competition).
  • Unrealized losses on Securities continue to decrease although still way too high...
  • Asset Quality looks “generally” good with Past Due and Nonaccrual Rate (PDNA) at 1.49% - well below pre-pandemic average of 1.94%.  However, PDNA rates for non-owner-occupied CRE, multifamily CRE, auto, and credit card portfolios remain well above their pre-pandemic averages.
  • The number of banks on the FDIC’s “Problem Bank List” (banks with a composite CAMELS composite rating of “4” or “5”) declined by 2 in 3Q25 to 57 banks.
    • For comparison, the number of banks with a FedFis Rating© in the bottom 1% for 3Q25 is 65 with a rating of 3.86 or worse.  Call me!!! 📞🤠😉

 
And did someone mention instant payments???

• Sunflower Bank (FDIC 4767; total assets $8.5B) partners with VerityPay and enhances its suite of Treasury Management services by enabling its business customers to send payments directly to consumers via SMS text message in as little as 90 seconds, without requiring an app download. 

 

• Ferry expands its partnership with Highnote and becomes the first subscriber to implement Highnote Instant Payments enabling large restaurant groups to deliver access to automated, same-day payouts of tips and wages directly to employees.

 

• Aeropay (pay by bank) launches Instant Pay-Ins via Request for Payment (RfP) in collaboration with Cross River Bank and the RTP® network.  Allows businesses to collect consumer bank payments that settle in seconds, even when transactions occur outside of standard banking hours.

 

• Notable FinTech funding for the week:
  • Kobalt Labs raised $11M in Series A funding round to enhance its AI-driven platform for automating risk and compliance processes for financial institutions.
  • Flex (banking app for high net worth business owners) raised $60M in Series B funding.

 
 
Random Uncle Sean stuff:

• This is my new favorite story of the year as I HAVE FOUND MY SPIRIT ANIMAL!!! 🤠 Apparently, a raccoon broke into a Virginia liquor store (scroll through the pics) and “went on a full-blown rampage, drinking everything” before passing out on the bathroom floor next to the toilet….  YES!!! 😄  Unfortunately, there isn’t any recorded video of the mayhem as he took out the security cameras when he fell through the ceiling tiles (which makes this even better), but the after pics are priceless – LOL!!!  In an interview, the animal control agency said, “After a few hours of sleep and zero signs of injury (other than maybe a hangover and poor life choices), he was safely released back to the wild, hopefully having learned that breaking and entering is not the answer.”
  • 🦝 Looks like Rocket has fallen on hard times since Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3!!! 😂🤣
• And here we go – here are the Dad / Bad jokes:
  • Still adjusting from the time change as every night around 10:30pm I realize it’s only 6:00pm!!! 🥱
  • I am clearly addicted to eating Thanksgiving leftovers…  You can’t just quit cold turkey…  😉
  • Mariah Carey is opening her Christmas present.  Inside she finds a deed to an undeveloped plot of land that is zoned residential.  Disappointed, she sets the deed down and says…….  “I don’t want a lot for Christmas.” 🎵🎄🙄
  • Psst… Hey Santa - How much do you want for that Naughty List???  😲😅🎅

 
 
Have a GREAT weekend 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