Uncle Sean's Update - 3/20/26

​Happy Friday!!!
 
Here is the Uncle Sean Update for 3/20/26 (subscribe here for free):
 

• It’s Fed Week!!!  Yep, the word of the day is (once again) “uncertainty.”  As expected by pretty much everyone (except Miran – who was the lone dissenter wanting a 25 bps rate cut), the FOMC voted again to keep interest rates at their current range of 3.5% - 3.75% noting “the implications of developments in the Middle East for the U.S. economy are uncertain.”  Activity in the housing sector remains weak, job gains have remained low (stating that this is a reflection of a decline in the growth of the labor force as well as softening labor demand), and inflation remains somewhat elevated.
  • Here is Chairman Powell’s press conference transcript (25 pages) and press conference video (48:27)
  • And here is the Summary of Economic Projections (dot plot) showing increased GDP estimates (compared to Dec SEP) of 2.4% this year and 2.3% next year, steady unemployment at 4.4% for the remainder of the year, and increased Core PCE inflation at 2.7% this year and 2.2% next year. 
    • PSA - Note that the SEP is not a plan or course of action, but rather a future median assumption based on economic data available today.
  • Certainly worth noting are some key statements by Chairman Powell regarding his future:
    • “…if my successor is not confirmed by the end of my term as chair, I would serve as chair pro tem until he is confirmed.”
    • “I have no intention of leaving the Board until the investigation is well and truly over…”
      • One might say this is Powell’s trump card… (yep – that was my pathetic attempt at political humor 😲😊)
    • “On the question of whether I will then continue to serve as a governor after my term ends, and after the investigation is over, I have not made that decision yet. And I will make that decision based on what I think is best for the institution and for the people we serve.”
  • Yahoo Finance has a really good summary.
  • The next FOMC meeting is scheduled for June 16-17 so there will be plenty of economic data to absorb between now and then.

 

• Western Alliance Bank (NYSE: WAL; FDIC 57512; total assets $93B) partners with Fiserv (Nasdaq: FISV) to deliver Clover-powered commerce and business management technology to the bank’s clients.  “This collaboration marks the largest agent bank partnership in Fiserv’s history by asset size..”  (bold emphasis added by Uncle Sean) 💥

 

• 👀 Money, money, money…  Mastercard goes big on stablecoins and acquires stablecoin infrastructure platform BVNK for $1.8B 💰 creating interoperability between fiat and stablecoins on a global payments network.

 

• Early Warning Services announced that Citi will offer Paze online checkout solution. 
  • This EMARKETER article highlights the fact that “Paze has been available to cardholders of EWS’s seven member banks, which include Bank of America, Chase, and Wells Fargo, since October 2024. The Citi tie-up is Paze’s third bank partnership outside of this core member group after Elan Financial Services and Star One Credit Union.”
    • Note that Elan Financial Services is owned by U.S. Bank National Association.

 

• nCino (Nasdaq: NCNO) announced the launch of nCino Doc VOI (verification of income) powered by Argyle.  The new feature (within the nCino Mortgage Solution platform) is designed to help banks, credit unions and independent mortgage lenders verify borrower income more efficiently.

 

• Klarna does some flexing 💪 this week as they announced the Klarna Card has reached 5 million active customers across 16 countries (in the US, the Klarna Card is issued by WebBank); AND announced they have  surpassed 1 million merchants globally (growth of 47% over the last year).

 

• OnePay announced a partnership with Pinwheel to embed direct deposit switching directly into onboarding for OnePay customers.

 

• Capitol Federal Savings Bank (FDIC 27981; total assets $9.8B) partners with CorServ to launch a commercial credit card program at the bank via CorServ’s turnkey Account Issuer program. 👏

 

• equipifi partnered with CUSG to enable CUSG’s credit union partners to offer equipifi’s BNPL solution to their members directly within their digital banking app (keeping the BNPL relationship within the CU as opposed to the member going to an outside third-party app). 🤙

 

• Prestige Community Credit Union (charter 67507; total assets $118M) selects Tyfone to advance its digital banking experience by implementing Tyfone’s nFinia® Digital Banking platform.

 

• Austin Telco Federal Credit Union (charter 4584; total assets $2.6B) selects MANTL to modernize its retail account opening process across all physical and digital banking channels.

 

• Stash announced an agreement with Stockpile to transition Stockpile kids’ accounts to the Stash platform.
  • Stockpile accounts (Green Dot / GoBank) will automatically transition to Public, Stash, and Apex on April 17 as it winds down operations per their website.

 

• Mobility Capital Finance aka MoCaFi filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy and has begun the liquidation process following “the loss of a major program that had been central to our revenue model.”
  • MoCaFi did not disclose any additional details, but the article goes on to mention “readiness issues at the company caused BNY, with which MoCaFi was partnering on the Treasury Department’s Direct Express program, to lose out on the contract.”

 

• Some Personnel moves:
  • Socure adds Colton Pond as Chief Marketing Officer.
  • Elavon names Wally Mlynarski as CEO.
  • Finastra picks up Chris McClellen as SVP and group head of AI.
  • Nymbus has promoted David Barone to Chief Strategy & Marketing Officer per this LinkedIn post

 

• Notable FinTech funding for the week:
  • Obin AI emerged from stealth and raised $7M in Seed funding to build an agentic workforce for financial institutions.
  • Fuse (AI-native LOS and account opening platform for FI’s) raised $25M in Series A funding round.

 
 
Random Uncle Sean stuff:

• It’s been a crazy seven-day ride!  We had Friday the 13th, the Ides of March (Et tu, Brute?), Saint Patrick’s Day, and the first day of Spring!  Not to mention here in Texas we set record lows early this week for this time of year (my garden and flowers were not amused) and are expected to set record highs this weekend! 🤷‍♂️
• 🏀 March Madness!!!  Here are the schedules for Men's NCAA tournament and Women's NCAA tournament.
• Sadly, we lost Chuck Norris this week as he passed away at the age of 86.  Rest in peace, champ.
• And let’s wrap it up with some Dad / Bad Jokes: 
  • Do astronauts use space heaters??? 🤔😉
  • Whiteboards are remarkable… 😄
  • American children are kind but German children are kinder… 😅
  • (not really a joke, more of a suggestion)…  For daylight savings time change next year, instead of losing an hour of sleep can we agree to jump forward an hour at 4PM on a Monday?  Seems like a much happier option!!! 🤠

 
 
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 and its affiliates – we all know he’s a little bit different; but that’s why we love him.