Uncle Sean's Update - 4/25/25

​Happy Friday!!!
 
Tell your friends to sign up here to join over 17,000 of your peers and get the Uncle Sean Update and the FinTech Cowboys interviews delivered straight to your inbox every week 🤠.  Here is the Uncle Sean Update for 4/25/25:
 
A quick look at some macroeconomic data:
 

• The Federal Reserve released the Beige Book - April 2025 with the theme “uncertainty around international trade policy was pervasive across reports” with some pull-in purchases ahead of anticipated tariff-related price increases.  Both leisure and business travel was down with several Districts noting a decline in international visitors.

 

• 🤐 Um, about those student loan payments…  The US Department of Education will resume federal student loan collections on May 5th.  The Department has not collected on defaulted loans since March 2020.  Per the PR:
  • Today, 42.7 million borrowers owe more than $1.6 trillion in student debt.
  • More than 5 million borrowers have not made a monthly payment in over 360 days and sit in default—many for more than 7 years—and 4 million borrowers are in late-stage delinquency (91-180 days). As a result, there could be almost 10 million borrowers in default in a few months. When this happens, almost 25 percent of the federal student loan portfolio will be in default.
  • Only 38 percent of borrowers are in repayment and current on their student loans.

 

• 👀 Looking ahead – next week brings some key data releases including GDP, PCE, and non-farm payrolls (jobs report).

 
The Merger Mania continues (not a holistic list for the week)!!!
 

• A CU mega-merger…  Wings Financial Credit Union (charter 68601; total assets $9.7B) entered into a merger of equals agreement to acquire Ent Credit Union (charter 68671; total assets $9.9B) effectively creating a combined proforma top 10 CU with approximately $20B in assets and almost 1 million members.  WOWZA!!!

 

• Columbia Banking System, Inc. (Nasdaq: COLB; FR 2078816), bank subsidiary is Umpqua Bank (FDIC 17266; total assets $52B), to acquire Pacific Premier Bancorp, Inc. (Nasdaq: PPBI; FR 3489594), bank subsidiary is Pacific Premier Bank, National Association (FDIC 32172; total assets $18B) in an all-stock transaction valued at approximately $2B.  CHA-CHING!!!! 💰💰💰

 

• And another CU acquisition of a bank…  This week, MIDFLORIDA Credit Union (charter 68600; total assets $8.1B) to acquire Prime Meridian Bank (FDIC 58694; total assets $975M) tying up a couple of FL institutions.
  • Worth noting that MIDFLORIDA is a serial bank acquirer and this marks their 3rd bank acquisition in 5 years.
  • This is now the 5th announced CU acquisition of a bank thus far for 2025.  This compares to 22 for 2024, 11 in 2023, 16 in 2022, 13 in 2021, 7 in 2020, and 16 in 2019.  Source: FedFis Bank M&A data.

 

• Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (Nasdaq: EBC – bank subsidiary is Eastern Bank; FDIC 32773; total assets $26B) to acquire HarborOne Bancorp, Inc. (Nasdaq: HONE – bank subsidiary is HarborOne Bank; FDIC 59070; total assets $5.8B) in a mixed deal of cash and stock valued at approximately $490M.

 

• Feedzai (identity, fraud, and AML platform) acquires Demyst – thus accelerating “Feedzai's vision to unify data orchestration and risk management into a single platform, providing financial institutions with the real-time data, analytics, and trusted artificial intelligence they need to make the best possible risk decisions.”

 
Core Processor’s making headlines:
 

• Fiserv (NYSE: FI) announced a plan to open a new strategic fintech hub in Overland Park, KS bringing 2,000 jobs to the area.  Located on the Aspiria campus at 6500 and 6550 Sprint Parkway in Overland Park, Kansas, the new site includes 427,000 square feet of space across two buildings.

 

• CSI announced the launch of its AI-powered AML compliance and fraud detection solutions: TruDetect and TruProtect powered by DATASEERS®.
  • Check out the TruDetect™ AML Solution which is live now with TruProtect rollout scheduled for later this year.  

 
Tech upgrades and divestitures:
 

• Southpoint Financial Credit Union (charter 68667; total assets $572M) selects MANTL for consumer and business new account opening (Deposit Origination) across all banking channels.  SouthPoint will also be part of the MANTL Loan Origination development partner program.

 

• Kirtland Credit Union (charter 12199; total assets $1.1B) selects Lumin Digital for its online and mobile banking services.

 

• NuMark Credit Union (charter 61447; total assets $878M) selects Alkami's Digital Banking Platform to enhance its online and mobile banking experience for both retail and business members.

 

• The Citizens State Bank of Ouray (FDIC 1779; total assets $204M) selects Apiture Digital Banking Platform to power digital banking as well as Apiture Digital Account Opening for both its consumer and business customers.

 

• MainStreet Bank (FDIC 57742; total assets $2.2B) to shut down Avenu, its embedded finance / BaaS subsidiary, after taking A $19.7M impairment charge in the 4th quarter reflecting the full capitalized intangible value of Avenu’s operating software (source - MNSB 4Q earnings release).

 
Partnerships, product launches, and more:
 

• Congrats to Thread Bank (FDIC 9499; total assets $768M) as they announce the opening of their new corporate headquarters for Thread Bancorp in Nashville, Tennessee. 👍

 

• Shout out to HC3 as a newly Endorsed Service Provider of the Independent Bankers Association of Texas (IBAT).  NICE!!!! 👏

 

• 👉 SQN Banking Systems partners with RiskScout as its preferred BSA/AML compliance partner to deliver enhanced fraud and AML solutions for community banks.

 

• Pinwheel flexes 💪 with a couple of announcements this week:
  • First up is an integration with Q2’s Digital Banking Platform enabling banks and credit unions that are Q2 customers to embed 1-click deposit switching via Pinwheel’s platform.
  • Paychex will be joining the Pinwheel PreMatch network enabling millions of Paychex Flex® users to utilize Pinwheel’s deposit switch solution.

 

• Klarna and eBay expand on their global partnership by bringing Klarna’s BNPL and installment payment solutions to millions of eBay’s U.S. shoppers.

 

• FedNow® Service continues momentum in Q1 2025 – now with more than 1.300 participating financial institutions headquartered in all 50 states are live on the service today. Small and midsize financial institutions, including community banks and credit unions, make up more than 95% of participants on the network.  More than 1.3 million transactions were settled on the FedNow Service in the first quarter, a 43% increase over the prior quarter. Consumers and businesses sent an average of $540 million through the service per day.

 

• Crypto.com selects Bread Financial (NYSE: BFH; bank subsidiary and card issuer is Comenity Capital Bank - FDIC 57570; total assets $13.3B) to launch a Visa crypto-based rewards credit card in the U.S..

 

• Notable FinTech funding for the week:
  • GreenFi (fka Aspiration) raised $17M Seed Round amid a relaunch as a climate-friendly consumer financial brand following the acquisition of Aspiration's consumer fintech division back in 2024.
  • Bloom Credit (consumer permissioned credit builder via existing recurring bill payment history) raised $10.5M in growth capital and announced a new partnership with Navy Federal Credit Union (charter 5536; total assets $181B).  NICE!!!!!
  • Alternative Payments (B2B payments and checkout infrastructure provider) raised $22M in Capital.

 
 
Random Uncle Sean stuff:

• 🏈 ICYMI – Miami QB Cam Ward went #1 overall to the Tennessee Titans in the NFL Draft.  Check out the remaining first round pics here - 2025 NFL Draft first-round results.  Oh and I can’t help but mention the Dallas Cowboys picked up Alabama offensive lineman, Tyler Booker.  Just look at his smile – knowing he will have pretty much the whole month of January and early February off for the next several years….  OUCH!!!! 😅
• You made it – here are the Bad / Dad Jokes:
  • “Crappy Diem”….  What happens when you seize the wrong day. 😬
  • It has been reported that 80% of the ocean floor has not been explored…  Pretty sure there is a Dollar General down there somewhere! 🤔🙃
  • I don’t want to be overly dramatic, but the workweek continuously restarting is really getting annoying! 😂
  • And my favorite this week…  
    • Cajun word of the day is “tariff”….  As in, “mah pants might tariff I eat more crawfish pie!” 🤠🤣

 
 
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.