Uncle Sean's Update - 7/10/26

Happy Friday!!!
 
Summer 🔥🥵 is definitely here!!!  Here is the Uncle Sean Update for 7/10/26 (subscribe here for free):
 
First up is some macroeconomic data (you know how I love to geek out on that 🤓):
 

• Late last week, the BLS released a fairly week June Jobs Report showing total non-farm payrolls added only 57,000 jobs in June, significantly lower than the 115,000 Dow Jones consensus estimate.  April and May jobs were also revised down by a total of -74,000 (you can see the revision history here - Nonfarm Payroll Employment: Revisions between over-the-month estimates, 1979-present).  Still shows positive job growth of roughly 90K jobs per month for the first six months of 2026, so it’s not all bad.   
  • Other key points:
    • If you have been following the Bankers Helping Bankers (BHB) Inside the Numbers quarterly podcast, you will not be surprised to see that Healthcare and Social Assistance once again led the job growth at +46.6K jobs added in June (Uncle Sean refers to this as the “Gray-shaped Economy” – LOL)
    • Unemployment dropped to 4.2% driven mostly by a noticeable drop in the labor force participation rate to 61.5%.
      • 👉 This is the lowest since March 2021; and if you skip the pandemic era, this is the lowest reading since May 1976 – HOLY SMOKES!!!! 😲 Source: Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (FRED) - https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CIVPART/
    • Average hourly earnings hit at 3.5% - so if you are getting reasonable annual COLA / wage increases, you are doing okay – not great, but okay.

 

• If you want to go even deeper, I highly suggest looking at the Federal Reserve’s July 2026 Semiannual Monetary Policy Report that they submitted to Congress today – great stuff here; and it gives you a good sense of how the FOMC is looking at the economy!!! 🤙

 
Now back to the rest of the Update 🤠:
 

• 👀 Open Standard announced Open USD (OUSD) – a new stablecoin for international money movement backed by a consortium of more than 140 companies including Visa, Stripe, Mastercard, Coinbase, BlackRock, BNY, Ripple, Google, Shopify, and the Solana Foundation.
  • Businesses can mint and redeem OUSD at no cost and no volume limits; partners receive most of the OUSD reserve earnings (less a mgmt. fee to cover opex); with governance shared among partners through an independent organization rather than a single controlling issuer. Open Standard's interim CEO is Zach Abrams, who founded Bridge, the stablecoin platform Stripe acquired in 2024.

 

• Grasshopper Bank, N.A. (FDIC 59113; total assets $1.5B) partners with Increase to launch instant payments via stablecoins for international payments in near real time and 24/7 availability.
  • Per the PR, “With the new solution, fintechs can convert fiat funds held in a Grasshopper Bank account into USDC, issued through Circle's regulated affiliates, through an Increase API and track transactions end-to-end. Funds can then settle on supported blockchains 24/7, helping streamline cross-border payments.”

 

• U.S. Bank, N.A. (FDIC 6548; total assets $684B) continues to lean into the SMB banking space and announced the launch of Enhanced Payments (includes same-day ACH, domestic and international wires, and instant payments) directly within U.S. Bank online banking and the bank’s mobile app.

 

• 👏 Shoutout to Nova Credit as they announced that Sallie Mae (Nasdaq: SLM) has selected the Nova Credit’s Income Navigator to support income verification as part of its private student loan underwriting process.

 

• 👀 De Novo watch…  Klarna (NYSE: KLAR) announced they have applied for U.S. banking license with the Utah Department of Financial Institutions and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to establish Klarna Bank USA, a proposed Utah-chartered industrial bank (ILC).

 

• Business First Bancshares (Nasdaq: BFST; bank subsidiary is b1BANK; FDIC 58228; total assets $8.9B) has acquired American Planning Corporation.  American Planning CEO T. Jefferson Fair and his team will join Smith Shellnut Wilson, LLC (SSW), a b1BANK subsidiary, expanding SSW’s advisory platform to serve SSW and b1 Financial Services Group clients nationwide.
  • “Jeff Fair and his team have earned the trust of community bankers over many years—including ours,” said Jude Melville, chairman, president and CEO of Business First Bancshares, Inc. “We’ve worked together since our founding twenty years ago, and I have complete confidence that by formally joining forces, we will amplify the positive impact Jeff already has had on the community banking industry.”
    • Congrats, Jeff!!!! 🚀

 

• United Roosevelt Savings Bank (FDIC 29170; total assets $384M) selects COCC as its new core processing vendor.

 

• On the AI front…
  • Liberty Bank (FDIC 17943; total assets $9B) announced the launch of its AI Center of Excellence powered by Flare AI.
  • Axos Financial (bank subsidiary is Axos Bank; FDIC 35546; total assets $28.2B) to acquire Arc Technologies, Inc. bringing integrated cash management, capital markets, and AI-powered financial software solutions through a unified platform designed to help businesses manage cash, access debt financing, and streamline financial operations.
  • ArcOne AI announced the extension of ArcOne BankOS™ into major banking domains covering retail, commercial, global transaction banking, capital markets, wealth, and payments.

 

• Plenty of flexing 💪 going on this week:
  • MANTL milestone - announced they have helped customers raise over $40B in deposits while saving more than 1M hours across account opening workflows in digital and branch channels.
  • Erebor Bank, N.A. (FDIC 59378; total assets $1.7B) is eyeing an additional funding raise at a valuation of at least $8B (according to Bloomberg) as the “bank's deposit base has nearly quadrupled since March, reaching $4.05 billion from the $1.1 billion it disclosed to regulators at the end of that month, per the report.”
  • Greenlight, the popular family banking app, announced it has surpassed 100 credit union partners nationwide through its Greenlight for Credit Unions program launched in 2023 (Greenlight Financial CUSO).

 

• Capital Community Bank (dba CCBank; FDIC 33823; total assets $1.5B) continues its rebranding as CCBank and its subsidiary, Security Home Mortgage, announce a strategic rebrand to Accordia Bank and Accordia Mortgage effective Aug 17, 2026.
  • Recall in June where CCBank launched Quill Bank website in support of BaaS and fintech platforms – “Banking infrastructure for modern finance.”
  • It also appears that Limelight Bank (CCBank’s direct digital brand) is also rebranding to Accordia Bank per the Limelight Bank website – “Limelight Bank and CCBank are becoming Accordia Bank.”

 

• Cascade Federal Credit Union (charter 7748; total assets $380M) selects Swaystack to deliver onboarding “inside the Jack Henry Banno digital banking platform, guiding members through account funding, direct deposit switching, and subscription transfers from the first login.”

 

• 🤔 Well, well, well…  The SEC’s semiannual reporting proposal draws groundswell of opposition as nearly all (99%) of letters submitted were from those who opposed the SEC’s proposal, according to this SEC Semi-Annual Reporting Proposal Tracker (S7-2026-15) overseen by Ohio State University accounting professor Tzachi Zach.

 

• On the funding side – Super.com (savings and rewards app) raised $65M in Series D funding round at a $1.2B valuation 🦄. 
  • “2025 was a breakout growth year for Super.com. The company became profitable and grew revenue over 50%, surpassing $200 million in net revenue diversified across recurring and transactional revenue streams. Its Super+ membership is now approaching 1 million members and continues to grow with over half of U.S. hotel bookings now coming from Super+ members.”
    • Check them out at Super.com: Save, Earn, Travel.

 
 
Random Uncle Sean stuff:

• A tribute to the 80’s – no, not the decade or the super-cool 80’s rock 🕺, but the age…  A trio of Presidential Happy Birthday’s to: Former President George W. Bush who turned 80 on July 6th; President Trump who turned 80 last month; and Former President Clinton who turns 80 on Aug. 19. 🎂🎉
• It’s that time of year…  We made it to mid-July, it’s 100 degrees outside – and that can mean only one thing….  Walmart should have their Christmas stuff out any day now! 🎅🎄
• You made it!!!  Here are the Dad / Bad Jokes to wrap up the week:
  • Home is where you trust the toilet seat!!! 😬🤠
  • Me:  But 60 is the new 40…  The officer who pulled me over:  Sir, step out of the vehicle. 🚔😭
  • I’m not saying I’m old, but my body is starting to make noises that sound expensive! 😅
  • And my favorite for the week:
    • Aunt Patty said she found a picture of me when I was a baby…  Turns out it was just a picture she took during our last argument.  😂❤️🤣

 
 
“The world needs good people - be one of them.”
 
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 and its affiliates – we all know he’s a little bit different; but that’s why we love him.