Uncle Sean's Update - 4/11/25

Happy Friday!!!
 
News was a little bit lighter this week (likely in part to “China tariff tennis” and “bond yield bingo” monopolizing the media - 😬😅) – but some cool headlines nonetheless….  Here is the Uncle Sean Update for 4/11/25:
 

• ICYMI, there was a bit a good news regarding inflation data this week!  The BLS March CPI Report declined 0.1% for the month led by declines in energy / gasoline prices (first time that MoM prices have fallen since June 2024 and only the second time since 2020 – WooHoo!) placing the YoY increase at 2.4% (Feb was 2.8%).  Core CPI (excludes food and energy) increased 0.1% MoM and came in at 2.8% YoY (Feb was 3.1%) – the lowest annual rate since March 2021.  CNBC has a pretty good summary.
  • Although March inflation data may feel a bit stale and completely overshadowed by April’s recent tariff and bond yield headlines, it is good news for now and I’ll take it! 😊

 

• Jamie Dimon released his Annual Letter to Shareholders earlier this week.  Keep in mind that Mr. Dimon is paid extremely well to be the consummate pessimistic risk manager; and this was released prior to the tariff pause.
  • Banking Dive gives us the CliffsNotes version here (spoiler alert – top concerns are: how tariffs and trade agreements will affect America’s long-term economic alliances; along with a perilous and complicated geopolitical and economic environment).

 

• Not really a surprise, but another BaaS middleware platform goes bankrupt…  Solid (fka Wise) has filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy after raising nearly $81M in funding and being sued by its Series B lead investor (ultimately dismissed with prejudice under a settlement in April 2024).  Solid claims to only have 3 employees left at the time of the bankruptcy filing and “a limited amount of current revenue.”
  • You can view the actual case filing here - Solid Financial Technologies, Inc.; Chapter 11 BK; Case #25-10669 (BLS).
  • 👉 Source credit to Jason Mikula for first breaking this news on LinkedIn (and for notifying all at the end of January that it was rumored Solid would be shutting down).  Be sure to follow Jason’s newsletter, Fintech Business Weekly for more in depth content.

 

• Block (fka Square) to pay a $40 million civil fine to New York's Department of Financial Services as a settlement to “alleged compliance shortfalls” without admitting or denying any wrongdoing.
  • Block agreed in January to pay an $80 million civil fine to settle similar charges by 48 U.S. state financial regulators.
  • Block said the New York settlement ends "all previously pending state money transmission license matters."

 

• Stripe’s application for a Merchant Acquirer Limited Purpose Bank (MALPB) charter has been filed with the state of Georgia’s Department of Banking and Finance. 
  • Banking Dive has a good summary adding, “The charter, which is known as a merchant acquirer limited purpose banks charter, would give Stripe direct access to card networks, which means the payments processing company would no longer need to partner with banks to process credit card transactions.”  This follows Fiserv’s lead for the same limited purpose charter from late last year.

 

• 💥 Knot has teamed up with PayPal to simplify and enhance checkout experiences for millions of PayPal users.  With Knot’s CardSwitcher™, PayPal users will soon be able to seamlessly add their PayPal branded cards as a payment method across their favorite merchants—making paying with PayPal easier.
  • Per the PR, “…Knot has formed partnerships with leading financial institutions and fintech innovators, including American Express, Bilt, and Step. This new collaboration with PayPal is a significant milestone in Knot's mission to build a financially interconnected future for users and merchants alike.”  Nice!!! 🤙

 

• Plinqit flexes their muscles 💪 with a major milestone…  “Deposits generated through its High Yield Savings product have surpassed $3 Billion” in just over a year with their white-label digital savings solution. 💰💰💰 
  • Check out their newly refreshed FI-focused website at info.plinqit.com/ helping “financial institutions attract deposits, launch digital brands, and grow strategically.”  And be sure to tell them Uncle Sean sent you!!! 😊 🎉

 

• Coming to America…  i2c expands its partnership with Access Finance to bring their Juzt Digital Credit Card to the U.S. via The Bank of Missouri as the issuing bank; and leveraging i2c’s global, unified banking and payments platform.
  • "This ongoing partnership with Access Finance highlights the versatility of i2c’s platform in supporting complex credit programs and expanding financial access,” said Amir Wain, CEO of i2c Inc. “We’re excited to continue supporting Access Finance in their mission to provide U.S. consumers with meaningful credit-building tools that can help shape a more financially inclusive future."
    • Uncle Sean is definitely seeing i2c show up in a lot of my research these days! 🚀

 

• Galileo (owned by SoFi) announced the launch of its Deposit Sweep product enabling fintech companies to partner with a network of participating banks and a deposit sweep provider to offer their customers the opportunity to maximize interest earnings and extend FDIC insurance coverage.
  • Per the PR, note that “This product is available exclusively to fintech clients where Galileo manages the ledger and their sponsor bank supports deposit sweeps.”
    • Uncle Sean goes deeper into the weeds…  Looking at the Galileo docs page for deposit sweep, it shows IntraFI as the deposit sweep provider which is the same sweep platform Coastal Community Bank is using (source: https://www.coastalbank.com/product/intrafi-fdic-insurance/) – somewhat relevant as Coastal is the sponsor bank for Bluevine (source: FedFis Fintech Analytics©) which is the pilot client for the Galileo Deposit Sweep program.

 

• True North Federal Credit Union (charter 5892; total assets $235M) selects Mahalo Banking to transform its digital banking experience; partly due to Mahalo’s deep integration with True North’s core processor, Corelation Keystone, and enhanced fraud protection capabilities.

 

• GFA Federal Credit Union (charter 24279; total assets $677M), a low-income designated credit union, signs with Salus to offer fast and easy microloans to its members.

 

• The OCC has acknowledged another cybersecurity incident where hackers gained access to emails containing sensitive government data in what the agency characterized as a “major incident.”  The breach compromised executive and employee emails, including attachments that contained “highly sensitive information relating to the financial condition of federally regulated financial institutions used in its examinations and supervisory oversight processes.”  Ooof!!!

 

• Elan Financial Services brings back Peter Klukken as Head of Elan Financial Services credit card division of U.S. Bank.

 

• Notable FinTech funding for the week:
  • Rain (EWA and financial wellness app) raised $75M in Series B funding round.
    • This TechCrunch article states that Rain intends to launch an EWA-secured credit card, as well as savings accounts.  The company is also working on a product to be rolled out later this year that makes it easier for employees to use their Health Saving Account (HSA) by letting them spend on any card and get reimbursed.
  • Alinea Invest (investing app targeting Gen Z) raised $10.4M in Series A round.

 
 
Random Uncle Sean stuff:

• PSA – don’t’ forget that the Tax deadline is next week (April 15th)!!!  So this weekend is likely your (and mine too) best shot at getting it done if you haven’t already… 🤮😢
• Back to some good news and happy thoughts…  Today is National Pet Day!!! In our crazy Mayo household, we have 2 dogs – 15 year old Angie (our rescue dog that is half red healer and half terrier = 100% crazy crack dog) and 12 year old Django (blue healer and big ole baby that likes to sleep on his back with his feet in the air); a 5 year old fat white cat named Yeti (that sheds more than both dogs combined 😲); a mud turtle named Turdy; and another outside only cat that just showed up one day named Ms. Kitty. 🐶😺🐢
  • And here are the Dad / Bad Jokes for the week:
    • I tried meal prepping once, but I got excited and ended up eating all 5 meals that day. 🤪
    • In a not too distant past, it was customary for people to bite into gold coins to verify authenticity (due to its malleability) … Ironically enough, it appears that gold was indeed the first “bitcoin”… 😂🤣
    • “Reintarnation” – (noun); /rēənˌtärˈnāSH(ə)n/:  To die and then come back as a cowboy. 🤠

 
 
Have a GREAT weekend (after your finish your taxes of course), go outside and play - 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.