Uncle Sean's Update - 6/5/26

Happy Friday!!!
 
And happy National Donut Day 🍩 – nom, nom, nom (National Donut Day 2026 deals, freebies at Krispy Kreme, Dunkin', more)!!!  Here is the Uncle Sean Update for 6/5/26 (subscribe here for free):

• 💥 A big virtual fist-bump 👊 to Lumin Digital as the latest Premier Sponsor of Bankers Helping Bankers (BHB)!!!  “Community banks are the backbone of local economies across the country, and Lumin Digital is committed to helping them drive meaningful results,” said Kelley Michalik, Chief Growth Officer at Lumin Digital. “We’re proud to partner with BHB to ensure community bankers have access to the data, guidance, and support they need to compete.”  🤘

• 👀 CORA Group has acquired Finastra’s U.S. Mid-Market banking business which includes Finastra’s Phoenix Core System, Malauzai Digital Banking and Fusion Analytics businesses.
  • The U.S. Mid-Market business will operate as a focused, standalone company, keeping the same products, people, and customer relationships that define it today, with the added backing and stability of Constellation’s global platform.

• 👏 Congrats to Happy Money (consumer finance company) as they announced a milestone achievement 💪 with more than $7B in cumulative loan originations; and has appointed Tim Parsons as Chief Risk & Analytics Officer to support their next phase of growth.

 
Of course Uncle Sean has to look at some recent macroeconomic updates:

• The BLS released the May Jobs Report showing a whopping +172K jobs added 🔥🔥🔥 (versus 85K estimate).  Plenty of movement in the yield curve as rates are moving higher (with the short end moving more and flattening the curve somewhat – reference CNBC 2Yr/10Yr Spread dropped almost 12% today to 0.38).
  • April was revised up by 64K from +115K to +179K; and March was also revised up by 29K from +185K to +214K – yielding a two-month revision of +93K (which is huge).  You can check out the revision history here.
  • Average hourly earnings came in at 3.4% YoY (not great as this is below current inflationary readings) and the unemployment rate remained steady at 4.3%.
  • The labor force participation (LFP) rate remains dismal at only 61.8%. 
    • 👉 This 2023 report from the St. Louis Fed, The Labor Force Participation Rate, Explained is an excellent document explaining why the LFP is important (a falling LFP rate can slow the growth of GDP, since fewer people are contributing to the nation’s output of goods and services).  Note that the graphs are updated through current May 2026 data – and the LFP for “prime age adults” (25 – 54) has been rising (currently at 83.9%).

• ICYMI…  Last week the BEA second estimate of 1Q2026 GDP was revised down 0.4% to 1.6% due in large part to downward revisions to business investment and consumer spending.

• The BEA also released April PCE last week showing inflation at 3.8% with core PCE at 3.3% - well above the Fed’s 2% target. The personal savings rate fell to 2.6% (lowest since 2022) as consumers are feeling pinched.

• Just to prove it’s not all gloom and doom - AAA is reporting that national gas prices have declined nearly 20 cents in one week!  I’ll take it!!! 😊

• And just in case you were wondering…  Newly appointed Federal Reserve Chairman Warsh will lead the next FOMC meeting which is less than two weeks away on June 16-17 and includes a Summary of Economic Projections. 
  • Talk about a rough couple of weeks at your new job!  I’ll have my popcorn ready for that press conference!!! 🍿

 
Now back to the rest of the Update 😊:

• Aeropay announces integration with Jack Henry Payments Orchestrator (fka Victor Technologies which JKHY acquired from MVB Bank in Sept 2025) to expand Aeropay’s instant payment capabilities (RFP and RTP) and reinforce its national pay-by-bank network.

• Experian announced a new integration with Fiserv (via Fiserv’s VerifyNow™ Advantage) that delivers “real-time debit card verification” for Experian Link.  This new integration helps merchants combat fraud and reduce false declines by enabling merchants “to authenticate payments by verifying a consumer’s identity with debit card ownership data, providing a more accurate way to authenticate transactions and reduce fraud without slowing down legitimate customers.”

• Fiserv (Nasdaq: FISV) has partnered with Cognition (AI agent lab) to deploy Devin, Cognition’s AI software engineer, “to accelerate the modernization of core banking technology and shorten the time it takes for new capabilities to reach Fiserv financial institution clients.”

• Citizens Bank (FDIC 14851; total assets $1.4B) expands its existing relationship with Alkami by selecting MANTL for account opening across all banking channels for both retail and business customers.

• Mocse Credit Union (charter 12805; total assets $430M) selects Narmi for its digital banking upgrade with an emphasis on improving its member engagement, operational flexibility, and small-to-medium business banking capabilities under the Narmi One digital banking platform.

• Woodforest Bank (FDIC 23220; total assets $9.2B) selects Jack Henry for core processing to support its continued growth, modernization, and long-term digital strategy.
  • The article emphasized that while “Jack Henry has more than 35 clients with over $9 billion in assets, but all of them have either been through a merger or organic growth with Jack Henry. Woodforest represents the largest new core signing in Jack Henry's history based on number of accounts and underscores the company's continued momentum with larger financial institutions.”

• Walmart backed OnePay is looking beyond Walmart to fuel its expansion (per Bloomberg reporting).  OnePay is exploring partnerships with payroll firms and other companies to offer their employees direct deposit accounts, per the report.

• Great Northwest FCU (charter 24606; total assets $267M) partners with InvestiFi to enable its 18,000 members to invest in ETFs, stocks, and cryptocurrencies directly through their digital banking channels.
  • Additionally, members will also gain access to InvestiFi's Guided Investing, a robo-advisory service that provides portfolios based on individual risk tolerance and financial goals, along with the vendor's suite of financial education resources. 🤙

• Payfinia (embedded payments for community FI’s) has completed its integration with The Clearing House RTP® network and can now “connect to the instant payment network on behalf of financial institutions through its Instant Payment Xchange (IPX) platform. The milestone extends Payfinia’s multi-rail reach across both the RTP network and the FedNow® Service, delivering true payment orchestration from a single, unified integration point for the company’s growing roster of nearly 30 community financial institution (FI) clients.”

• Previously conserved on 1/22/26, Beverly Hills Federal Credit Union (charter 9823, total assets $15M) merges into Nuvision Federal Credit Union (charter 566; total assets $3.9B) per the NCUA.

• The U.S. Department of the Treasury announced the launch of the Trump Accounts app and next steps for the Trump Accounts – official launch is scheduled for July 4th with account activation emails to be sent out in phases.
  • Here is the link to download the App - Trump Accounts - Jumpstarting the American Dream
  • Here is the IRS guidance (including Form 4547) - Trump Accounts | Internal Revenue Service

• Effective July 4, the SBA is doubling the loan limits in both the 7(a) and 504 programs to $10M cumulatively. 👍

• Some personnel moves:
  • 🎉 Congratulations to Scott Martorana for his recent promotion to President & CEO of FinPro Capital Advisors, Inc. (FCA).
  • 👏 And a shout out to Natasha Vernier as she joins Bretton AI as their new Chief Operating Officer per this LinkedIn Post.

• Notable FinTech funding for the week:
  • Ramp (corporate spend management and banking platform) raised $750M in Series F funding round at a massive $44B valuation 😲; and separately announced the launch of Stack, an AI operating system built specifically for accounting firms.
  • Airwallex recent capital raise (Airwallex declined to comment per the Axios article) of an undisclosed amount is now pushing a $12B valuation – quite the jump from their previous capital raise of $330M Series G back in Dec 2025 at a valuation of $8B.  Airwallex also announced the acquisition of Leapfin.

 
 
Random Uncle Sean stuff:

• We knew it was coming, but unfortunately it’s here now…  This week, the USDA confirms our first case of the New World screwworrm in Texas.
  • We’ve conquered the screwworm before and we will do it again – this Texas A&M AgriLife website (https://agrilifeextension.tamu.edu/new-world-screwworm) as well as this USDA site (https://www.aphis.usda.gov/livestock-poultry-disease/cattle/ticks/screwwormis) are both great educational resources with factsheets and current articles / updates.  As with pretty much everything in life, education and awareness is key.
• We made it!!!  Here are some Dad / Bad Jokes to bring in the weekend vibe!!!
  • Does anyone know if the arachnophobia society has a website…??? 🕷️🕸️😅
  • Never lie to an x-ray tech, they can see right through you! 😆
  • Dermatologists make rash decisions…. 😉
  • Lactose intolerant people often blame udders for their problems… 🐮😂
  • You would think that a snail would move faster without a shell…  but it just becomes more sluggish… 🐌🤠

 
 
“The world needs good people - be one of them.”
 
Have a GREAT weekend and please stay safe!  Oh, and GO SPURS GO!!!! 🏀🏆
 
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.