Uncle Sean's Update - 3/7/25

Happy Friday!!!
 
Uncle Sean is taking next week off for some much needed vacation & family time 🌴🍺🍹,  so unfortunately there will not be an Update published next week 🥺…  But first - here is the Uncle Sean Update for 3/7/25:
 

• In somewhat of a mixed bag of results, the BLS Feb Jobs Report came in at +155K jobs added lower than expectations (anywhere from 160K – 170K) but higher than last month (Jan was revised down 18K from 143K to 125K while Dec was revised up by 16K to 323K - you can see the revisions detail and history here).  Unemployment ticked up slightly to 4.1% (4% expected; 4% previously); and  average hourly earnings YoY came in at 4% (+4.2% expected; +4.1% previously) – still outpacing inflation.
  • The next few months should prove to be interesting as we see how fiscal policy begins to impact macroeconomic data and the yield curve; and how monetary policy from the FOMC reacts (if at all – at least in the near term).
    • Next FOMC meeting is March 18-19 and includes the SEP / dot plot projections.

 

• 👉 Shout out to Ponce Bank (FDIC 31189; total assets $3B) for their recently launched PonceBankDirect (direct digital bank); and I couldn’t help but notice the “© Copyright 1999-2025 Data Center, Inc.” at the login page.  Congrats to my friends at DCI – that’s a nice win with a $3B bank!  The incumbent core vendor (which is not DCI) has a strategic position with Ponce encompassing core, online, and mobile (source: FedFis) – further highlighting that DCI’s “Digital Branch and Side-Core” solution is completely core agnostic with no third-party middleware involvement. 🚀  I’m sure that everyone knows by now that Uncle Sean loves the direct digital bank model – very nice!!! 👏

 

• Dave (Nasdaq: DAVE) announced a new sponsor bank partnership with Coastal Community Bank (FDIC 34403; total assets $4.1B) and the bank’s CCBX BaaS division.  This Banking Dive article states that Dave currently relies on embattled Evolve Bank & Trust as its sole banking partner; and recognizes the benefits / risk mitigation of having more than one banking partner as a vendor diversification strategy.  However – the article also cites Bloomberg as stating Dave ultimately intends to drop Evolve as their banking partner.

 

• Green Dot (NYSE: GDOT; BHC for Green Dot Bank – FDIC 22653; total assets $4.6B) and Marqeta (Nasdaq: MQ) announced a new agreement enabling Marqeta to provide customers with convenient and affordable cash services via Green Dot’s money movement network (Green Dot Network powered by Arc) consisting of more than 95,000 locations nationwide.

 

• Socure (AI-driven digital identity) announced the launch of its Identity Manipulation Risk Score “designed to stop repeat first-party fraud abusers from exploiting the digital economy at scale.”

 

• Synovus Bank (FDIC 873; total assets $60B) further prioritizes fraud protection by partnering with Carefull to help Synovus account holders prevent fraud, scams and detect money mistakes – particularly for our aging adult population.  Uncle Sean loves this! ♥️
  • Per the PR – “By offering Carefull in a phased approach as a complimentary benefit to its clients, Synovus ensures that consumer-led, proactive fraud prevention is built more deeply into the everyday banking experience. The Carefull service includes oversight of bank, credit card and investment accounts for concerning patterns, signs of fraud, scams and common money mistakes. Carefull also provides identity and home title monitoring, credit monitoring and a secure digital vault for storing critical documents and passwords.”

 

• 👀 ICYMI…  The FDIC approved to rescind the 2024 Statement of Policy on Bank Merger Transactions; and also approved the withdrawal of outstanding proposed rules, including:
  • The brokered deposits proposal (YAY!!!!) which “would have significantly disrupted many aspects of the deposit landscape,” as well as proposals related to corporate governance, Change in Bank Control Act, and incentive-based compensation arrangements (which was previously approved but never published in the Federal Register).

 

• WSFS Bank (FDIC 17838; total assets $20.2B) partners with Greenlight through their “Greenlight for Banks” offering.  WSFS Bank clients will have complimentary access to Greenlight’s award-winning family finance app, enhancing financial literacy for kids and teens. 👍

 

• Finastra partners with i2C to enable Finastra’s bank and credit union clients to offer debit card issuance and digital wallet solutions to their customers via API connectivity between i2C’s card processing suite and Finastra Phoenix core solution.

 

• Vantage Bank Texas (FDIC 3405; total assets $4.6B) selects SRA Watchtower to consolidate the bank’s enterprise risk management program into a comprehensive BI platform for risk and financial insights “capable of consolidating data from diverse sources and enabling seamless monitoring of our enterprise risk profile.”

 

• One Nevada Credit Union (charter 68613; total assets $1.4B) selects Swaystack to gamify member onboarding and personalize engagement through integration with the CU’s existing Q2 digital banking platform.

 

• Arizona Financial Credit Union (charter 68730; total assets $3.4B) launches BNPL with equipifi that includes “both a pre-purchase feature that gives members access to extra funds prior to shopping, and a post purchase feature that converts eligible debit card transactions into installment loans.”  Nice! 😊

 

• American Eagle Financial Credit Union (charter 68659; total assets $2.6B) selects Alkami's Digital Banking Platform to enhance the CU’s digital-first strategy.

 

• COCC partners with Glia empowering COCC’s community bank and credit union clients to provide Glia’s ChannelLess® Architecture  platform bridging AI and customer service to deliver personalized customer interactions at scale within a single omnichannel platform.

 

• Aeropay (online payments including Pay-by-Bank) adds Regent Bank (FDIC 4160; total assets $1.7B) to its growing ecosystem of banking providers.  Services provided through the Areopay-Regent Bank partnership include ACH, RTP, and FedNow payment services.

 

• American Express (NYSE: AXP) announced an agreement to acquire Center, a corporate card and expense management platform.

 

• Some personnel moves:
  • BalancedTrust appoints Tina Giorgio as Head of Operations.
  • equipifi announced that former Congressman Patrick McHenry has joined as a Senior Advisor.
  • Lenders Cooperative named Christopher McClinton as President and Chief Revenue Officer.

 

• Notable FinTech funding for the week:
  • Flex (platform for small to mid-market business owners to manage both their personal and business finances) raised $25M in equity funding at a $250M valuation as well as a $200M credit facility as it expects to grow revenue by 5x in 2025.

 
 
Random Uncle Sean stuff:

• Don’t forget to spring those clocks forward as Daylight Savings Time officially begins this weekend! ⏰
• In a sign of the times, Monopoly goes digital in a new version where the Banker is replaced by a mobile banking app.  Don’t worry – you can still get the old paper money version if you so choose.
• We made it – its time for the Dad / Bad Jokes to kick off the weekend (and my vacation):
  • When you speak two languages but begin to lose vocabulary in both – that’s byelingual. 😊
  • If prisoners took their own mugshots, they’d be cellfies…
  • And of course some Uncle Sean fitness / health pointers:
    • I want abs… olutely all the tacos!!! 🌮😋
    • If you lick all the icing off of the cupcake, it becomes a muffin – and muffins aren’t as bad for you as cupcakes! 🧁
    • I haven’t exercised in so long that my Fitbit just sent me a friend request…
  • And last but certainly not least….  Tomorrow is not promised, so call your siblings today and tell them they’re ugly! 🤠♥️

 
 
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.