Uncle Sean's Update - 12/6/24

​Happy Friday!!!
 
Uncle Sean is back from some much needed time off for Thanksgiving 🦃 where I learned that “leftovers are for quitters!!!” 🤣  Here is the Uncle Sean Update for 12/6/24:
 

• WOW – Bankers Helping Bankers (BHB) has been busy (and blessed).  Check out these recent announcements:
  • Shout out to Smiley Technologies, Inc. as the latest innovative institution to join Bankers Helping Bankers as a premier sponsor helping to drive and support community banks!!!
    • "Smiley Technologies has a long-standing reputation for delivering exceptional support to community banks through its flexible, responsive core solutions," said Matthew Smith, President of Bankers Helping Bankers. "As a premier sponsor, they’re not just contributing to our mission—they’re enhancing it. Together, we’re working to create a future where community banks have every tool needed to succeed, supported by a network of partners who truly understand and advocate for their unique needs." 🚀
  • PLUS…  A virtual high five and fist bump 👊 to E.W. & J. David Williams Family Trust Institute for Community Banking & Finance at Texas Tech University as the newest sponsor for "Friends of Bankers Helping Bankers" (BHB). ❤️
  • AND…  Another virtual high five and fist bump 👊 goes out to OAK Bank Services for their generous donation to Bankers Helping Bankers in support of community banks across the nation in supporting local economies. ❤️

 

• 👀 ICYMI - Frank Bisignano, Fiserv Chairman, President and CEO, has been nominated by President-elect Trump as Commissioner Social Security Administration.
  • Payments Dive has a good summary noting Bisignano’s track record of transforming large corporations, as Trump said in a post on Truth Social; as well as mention of Fiserv Executive Vice President Takis Georgakopoulos as a possible CEO replacement (per analyst speculation – no official word from Fiserv).

 

• And some summary economic data as we look forward to the next FOMC meeting coming up on December 17 – 18 (and ahead of the CPI inflation report due next Wednesday, Dec 11):
  • The BLS November Jobs Report came in a bit on the hot side with 227K jobs added (versus Dow Jones estimate of 214K) as well as a +24K upward revision to Oct to a total of 36K.  Unemployment ticked up to 4.2% as expected (last month was 4.1% while last year was 3.7%) and wage growth remains steady at 4.0% over last year (same for the last three months).
    • CNBC has a good summary as always.  If you want to dig into the revisions (normal part of the process), you can check that out here.
  • Another slightly hot read – Core PCE for October edged up to 2.8% from 2.7% for the prior three months. 
  • And the Federal Reserve Beige Book for November showed very slight increases in economic activity across most districts with employment levels remaining flat to up slightly as hiring activity remains subdued due to low employee turnover.

 

• 💪 Uncle Sean loves this!!!  Texas based Legend Bank (FDIC 3108; total assets $1.1B) announced a partnership with Infinant to power the bank’s newly launched Fintech Partner Banking division.  NICE!!!!! 🚀
  • Check out Infinant and their Interlace Platform for embedded banking solutions at Infinant.com – good things happening over there!

 

• Red River Bank (FDIC 34980; total assets $3.1B) selects Allied Payment Network for the bank’s “real-time payments solutions, which will integrate seamlessly with the bank’s Q2 Digital Banking Platform” that was also recently announced back in Oct. 👍

 

• 💥The Clearing House is increasing the RTP® network transaction limit to $10M - a 10X increase over the existing $1M limit.  The new limit is set to be effective beginning Feb 9, 2025 and is expected to spur “higher value transactions in real estate, supply chain, inter-company transfers, large merchant settlements, and other business-to-business transactions.”
  • 🤔 If I were a betting man, I would expect similar changes to Same Day ACH coming soon…

 

• Charlie (fintech banking app for Americans aged 62+) is making headlines again this week with the launch of CharlieSaver, a comprehensive source of senior discounts nationwide covering over 20,000 discounts across 1,000 shopping centers.
  • Worth noting that “Charlie Saver is free to use and available to all older Americans, not just Charlie customers.”  Nice!!! 😊

 

• And a host of AI-related announcements:
  • Inbenta and ebankIT have partnered together to enhance digital banking experiences with AI-driven customer engagement on ebankIT’s digital banking platform.
  • Shastic announced partnership integration with MeridianLink to provide AI workflow automation for banks and credit unions via the MeridianLink® Marketplace.
  • Uptiq.AI has acquired UpSwot enhancing Uptiq.AI’s enterprise AI platform.  “…the enhanced platform will allow financial institutions to seamlessly leverage structured and unstructured data for a wide array of use cases, from personalized customer interactions to complex decision-making processes like loan origination, compliance and portfolio management.”
  • Mbanq announced the launch of Mbanq Comet, an AI-powered digital loan origination platform that makes full use of artificial intelligence to modernize and enhance the lending process.  And integrates seamlessly with any core banking system.

 

• In the private credit space…  BlackRock continues its acquisition spree by acquiring HPS Investment Partners in a $12B stock deal.

 

• Some personnel moves:
  • DailyPay appointed Ryan Mang as Chief Commercial Officer.
  • Pipe (embedded financial solutions for SMB’s) announced the appointments of Claurelle Rakipovic as CPO, Nate Wiger as CTO, Amy Loh as CMO, and Jon Lear as Global Head of Growth following Pipe’s recent global expansion and the launch of the Pipe Business Card.

 

• Notable FinTech funding for the week:
  • Cardless (modern card platform for brands) raised $30M in capital quoting “10x revenue growth since the start of 2023.”
  • Lumin Digital (cloud-native digital banking provider) picked up over $160M in growth equity funding stating a revenue growth rate of over 60% from last year.

 
 
Random Uncle Sean stuff:

• 🎄Check out the lighting of the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center as reported by NBC.  And more good news - the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris is set to reopen this Saturday, Dec 7, for the first time since the devastating fire in 2019.
• Speaking of December 7th, take a look at this Pearl Harbor remembrance from The National WWII Museum as I am pretty sure that all of us have at least one extended family relative that served.
• And everyone’s favorite – the Dad / Bad Jokes for the week:
  • What do turkeys eat for Thanksgiving?  Nothing – they’re  already stuffed!!! 😂
  • I used to just crastinate…  Then I decided to go pro. 🏆
  • Can  you buy other chess pieces at a pawn shop? ♟️🤷‍♂️
  • Doing yoga everyday is a bit of a stretch…. 😅
  • And last but not least….  Life is short - smile while you still have teeth!!!! 🤣🙃

 
 
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
 
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.