Uncle Sean's Update - 3/28/25

Happy Friday!!!
 
Don’t forget to sign up here to have the Uncle Sean Update and Fintech Cowboy’s interviews delivered straight to your inbox every week!  Hard to believe we are about to close out the first quarter of the year – but first….  Here is the Uncle Sean Update for 3/28/25:
 

• Real quick economic update – this week the BEA Feb PCE Report came in pretty much benign and spot on with expectations with one exception where core PCE continues to be sticky at 2.8% YoY versus expectation of 2.7% (was 2.7% revised for Jan).
  • Tightening up??? 🤷‍♂️  Also note that personal saving as a percentage of disposable personal income—was 4.6% as consumer spending tightened slightly (versus estimate) while personal income came in significantly higher than estimates.  CNBC has a good summary as the words, “tariff, maybe, I don’t know, and uncertainty” dominate most of the major news outlets. 😝

 

• CSI announced that David Culbertson, current President and CEO, will transition from CEO to Vice Chair of the Board.
  • “David has been an incredible leader for CSI, and we are deeply grateful for his dedication, vision and contributions,” said Frank Martire, chair of the board of directors at CSI. “We are confident that David will continue to provide valuable guidance and support in his new role as vice chair.”
    • Indeed – congrats on an amazing 36 year career at CSI!!! 🍾🎉👏
      • Of course Uncle Sean checked out Mr. Culbertson’s LinkedIn profile (and I absolutely love ♥️ and respect this):
        • June 1989 (shortly after graduating from the University of Virginia with a BS in Computer Science) – “I began my career at CSI as a programmer. After a few years in that role, I was promoted to project manager and asked to lead the development team charged with converting new banks to our platform. In 1995, I was recruited by John Williams, the Chairman and CEO, to start the Internal Audit department. It was during those years with John that my interest in the overall business of CSI grew and my opportunity for personal growth was realized.”
        • Not much for job hopping, huh David? 🤠 Congrats!

 

• Fiserv (NYSE: FI) notches another big win.  This week, Republic Bank & Trust Company (FDIC 23627; total assets $6.8B) selects Fiserv DNA “to enhance the company’s banking system capabilities and drive operational efficiencies to realize their digital transformation goals.”

 

• Highnote also lands a big win this week as The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation (NYSE: BK) to integrate Highnote’s advanced virtual card issuance capabilities with BNY’s B2B payments offering.

 

• Patriot National Bancorp (BHC for Patriot Bank, NA – FDIC 33928; total assets $1B) raised more than $50M in a private placement as a source of strength for the bank; and announced the CEO is stepping down.

 

• Revolut US CFO, Max Lapin, makes it abundantly clear, “Revolut wants to become a bank in the United States.”

 

• Chime adds Instant Loans – a three month installment loan of up to $500.  “Chime’s Instant Loans has no late fees or compound interest, just a fixed interest rate of $5 for every $100 borrowed, paid back in three monthly payments of $35.00 per $100 borrowed (29.76% annual percentage rate).“

 

• Robinhood (Nasdaq: HOOD) announced Robinhood Banking (coming Fall 2025 to Robinhood Gold members via Coastal Community Bank) featuring “private banking” type services such as:
  • High-yield Savings, international wires, estate planning, tax advice, travel and event perks, family banking, and more…
    • Oh – and In lieu of an ATM network, it appears (although details are limited at best) that Robinhood will deliver cash to your doorstep….  Hmmm – what could possibly go wrong? 🤠

 

• 👉 This is great!  In response to Robinhood Banking and the effort to democratize a true digital Private Banking experience, M1 has penned a welcome letter – “To Robinhood: Welcome to the good fight” (a must read, btw).
  • I may or may not have laughed so hard that coffee almost came out of my nose at this line, “Robinhood is a phenomenal company that offers an incredibly designed platform. However, like a health food company selling cigarettes, they prioritize items that are detrimental to their customer’s financial well-being.” (bold emphasis added by Uncle Sean).  LOL!!!!  Touché, M1! 😂

 

• Experian announced the launch of Cashflow Score using consumer-permissioned data.  Nice!!! 👏

 

• MANTL makes a couple of announcements this week (following the completion of its acquisition by Alkami):
  • Peoples Bank (FDIC 29523; total assets $2.1B) selects MANTL for its business and consumer deposit origination.
  • Soarion Credit Union (Charter 8169; total assets $614M) selects Consumer Deposit Origination by MANTL to transform online and in-branch account opening via MANTL’s integration with Soarion’s core, Jack Henry Symitar.

 

• IncredibleBank (FDIC 19772; total assets $2B) partners with Alloy to automate KYC, KYB, and fraud at originations at an enterprise level - significantly improving the bank’s digital onboarding process and overall operational efficiency.

 

• Shout out to Lumin Digital with a host of announcements!!!
  • 👍 Blue Federal Credit Union (charter 7361; total assets $2.1B) to launch Blue Business Banking for the CU’s business members.
  • 💥 Lumin Digital announced that clients have invested over $75M into the business adding to their $170M growth equity round in December, bringing an aggregate capital raise of over $2425M.
  • 👀 Also, ICYMI…  Huge congrats to Lumin Digital (per this LinkedIn post; and I personally love this story) as they have successfully gone live with First Bank of Berne (FDIC 9288, total assets $1.1B).  To my knowledge (and someone please correct me if I am wrong), I believe this is a first for Lumin Digital as they make the jump from a CU-platform to signing their first bank for digital; not to mention the fact that First Bank of Berne was a core strategic platform (i.e. same vendor for core, online, and mobile) – so not an easy win! 🚀

 

• 😊 Very happy to see that the NCUA has returned control of Valwood Park FCU to its members!!!  Previously conserved on Jan 20, 2023, “The recovery of Valwood Park reflects the extraordinary efforts of its leadership team, staff, and members,” NCUA Chairman Kyle S. Hauptman said. “Working in collaboration with the NCUA, the new management team saved the credit union from failure by enhancing controls and mitigating risks. Valwood Park is now in a stronger position to provide vital financial services and enhance the financial well-being of residents in Dallas’s Metrocrest communities.”
  • A virtual High Five to all involved as this was undoubtedly a lot of work!!!

 

• And more happy headlines 😊…  Recall the Heartland Tri-State Bank failure due to fraud (officer embezzlement precipitated by crypto pig butchering scheme) back in July 2023?  All depositors were made whole, but shareholders of the bank holding company were left high and dry.  Well, the FBI was able to recover nearly all of the shareholders' money!!!
  • Regarding the shareholders - "These were not Silicon Valley investors," Hemmert said. "These were regular people from southwest Kansas. And a lot of them had their net worth tied up in this bank." 
    • VERY NICE WORK!!!!! 👊

 

• Grazzy partners with U.S. Bank to offer a prepaid debit card program for hourly employees to easily access digital tips at the end of each shift.

 

• Alkami (Nasdaq: ALKT) has partnered with Greenlight enabling Alkami’s clients to offer Greenlight’s family finance app to their account holders.

 

• Bloom Credit has appointed Christa Degnan as Chief Product Officer and Tushar Mukhija as Head of Strategy and Partnerships, Credit Union Financial Services.

 

• Notable FinTech funding for the week:
  • EDGE Boost (financial platform for responsible gaming / sports betting) raised a massive $17.2M Seed funding round.
  • Mercury raised a $300M Series C round at a $3.5B valuation.
  • Abound (remittance flows to India) raised a huge $14M Seed round.

 
 
Random Uncle Sean stuff:

• 🏀 March Madness continues to roll and we are about halfway through the Sweet 16 as of Friday afternoon!  Continued bracket watch here!
• And I would be remiss if I did not give a nod to ⚾ MLB Opening Day earlier this week!  Ahhh, springtime! 😊
• Okay – you made it 😊…  Here are the Dad / Bad Jokes to kick off the weekend:
  • Research shows that over the course of 18 years, it costs over $235,000 to raise a child – and that’s just for the alcohol! 🍷🍻
  • I know they didn’t ask for it, but I sent a stool sample in with my tax return… 😬😅
  • It’s important to get out of the house every once in a while to remind yourself why you don’t go out! 🙃
  • Imagine how loud a centipede would be if they wore tiny little flip flops!!! 🩴

 
 
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.