Uncle Sean's Update - 7/11/25

Happy Friday!!!
  
Thoughts and prayers 🙏 to all affected by the tragic and devastating floods in the Texas Hill Country over the 4th of July weekend.
 

• “In the darkest moments of destruction and despair, when an overbearing catastrophe weighs down on the soul like an anchor; and the path forward seems mentally and physically unattainable.  When the act of simply existing, just breathing in and out, is painful as our hearts ache at the realization of what has transpired… And thoughts of the children that will remain with us for the rest of our days…  When we are unsure of our own strength to recover, much less move ahead, as the task before us is of a magnitude difficult to comprehend…  It’s those moments that we see the rekindling of the beautiful human spirit – the absolute best of mankind.  A moment of unsung heroes, volunteers, and everyday Americans, the people you see at church, the grocery store, school functions and little league events – all coming together with a unique blend of grit and compassion.  Husbands and Wives, Moms and Dads, Aunts and Uncles, Brothers and Sisters, along with neighbors and complete strangers with open doors and open arms.  A moment where we see each other as one community with a common bond; and embrace each other with kindness, support, love, as well as grace and humility at the same time.  Giving us all hope and strength to move forward, one small step at a time.” ❤️ - Uncle Sean.

 
These folks will be in clean up mode for a long, long time to come.  If you want to help, there are plenty of charitable organizations that you can find with a quick internet search (although, please beware of dirtbag scammers per this FTC Consumer Alert).
 
Happy and proud to report that the FedFis Team has been active locally in supporting the Comfort Volunteer Fire Department (you can donate here if you like - supports both the VFD as well as the community as Comfort is an unincorporated community).  Thank you!
 
 
Here is the Uncle Sean Update for 7/11/25:
 

• PNC Bank (FDIC 6384; total assets $549B) announced the launch of PNC Direct Deposit designed to enable customers to automatically set up direct deposits for payroll, Social Security payments, or other regular income through the PNC Mobile app with just a few quick clicks.
  • 👉  So here’s something cool…  When you go to Set Up Direct Deposit with PNC, you can see the second screenshot “Manage Direct Deposit” where it states at the top, “PNC uses Atomic to power our direct deposit setup experience.”
    • 💥Congrats to my friends at Atomic – what a huge win for the team!!!!  Great work!!!! 🚀

 

• Banks continue to lean into SMB solutions after much success from the fintech market.  This week we see Truist Financial Corporation (NYSE: TFC), bank subsidiary is Truist Bank (FDIC 9486; total assets $527B), announce the launch of Truist Merchant Engage (includes the U.S. debut of the Pollinate platform) to unify business banking and merchant services with the goal of simplifying business operations and delivering intelligent real-time insights for their SMB clients.

 

• 👀 Walmart’s OnePay partners with Mastercard for cross-border transfers.  The payment system, powered by Mastercard Move, allows for international transfers reaching recipients “in multiple markets in near real-time” facilitating support for families.  The solution also offers a OnePay card (Mastercard prepaid GPR debit) and digital account, designed for individuals without access to conventional banking.

 

• A pair of JKHY announcements this week:
  • First Mid Bank & Trust, N.A. (FDIC 3705; total assets $ 7.5B) selects Jack Henry for core processing.
  • Triangle Credit Union (charter 68210; total assets $853M) selects Jack Henry's Symitar® platform for core processing as well as Jack Henry LoanVantage™ fully integrated origination experience.

 

• Commonwealth Credit Union in Kentucky (charter 24970; total assets $2.6B) selects Lumin Digital for its digital banking upgrade.

 

• Instacart to launch a new Shoppers Rewards Card debit Mastercard issued by Lead Bank and powered by Branch. 👏

 

• Speaking of Instacart and embedded finance….  Wegmans (grocery chain with more than 100 locations across nine states) announced they are testing out smart carts with technology from two providers, including Instacart’s Caper Carts that let shoppers pay directly from the cart.
  • The Instacart Caper Carts “enable customers to track their spending and check out seamlessly. Caper Carts automatically recognize items as they are dropped into the cart and customers can bag as they shop, tapping signals from an array of Caper Cart cameras, digital scale, and location sensors connected to NVIDIA Jetson hardware. Wegmans customers can login to their Shoppers Club account on the cart's screen in order to shop with a Caper Cart.” 👍

 

• Wawa (convenience store chain of over 1,000 locations) is launching the Wawa Mastercard open loop credit card and rewards within the Wawa app and issued by First National Bank of Omaha (FNBO®).

 

• Nymbus announced a new agreement with Bud Financial to launch AI-powered PFM services for banks and CUs. “Nymbus will integrate Bud’s market-leading suite of personal financial management (“PFM”) widgets. These capabilities will be embedded directly into the Nymbus Banking Platform, enhancing the digital banking experience and enabling smarter, more contextual customer engagement.”

 

• Rain announced the launch of their first embedded EWA access solution directly within Workday (Nasdaq: WDAY).
  • The article states, “This partnership follows Rain’s $75 million Series B financing and marks a strategic expansion of its embedded finance capabilities, including its recently announced collaboration with Marqeta.”

 

• Velera announced a partnership to bring ValidiFI's vAccount solution to Velera’s credit unions to optimize the member onboarding and application processes. “Benefits include real-time bank account validation, improved efficiency, enhanced fraud prevention and a seamless experience for end consumers.”

 

• Finastra has divested its Fusion Servicing Director and EZTeller platforms, that support loan servicing and teller operations, to emerging US software provider Core Financial Software.
  • Core Financial Software’s website states it “was formed by the carve out of Servicing Director and EZTeller software solutions from one of the worlds largest Software Fintechs.  We now provide loan servicing and front line teller solutions to over 200+ customers across Banks, Credit Unions and Corporates.”

 

• Some personnel moves:
  • Congratulations to Laurie McLachlan as the new Chief Marketing Officer at Revio Insight per this LinkedIn post. 👏  Some good things happening over at Revio with really great folks!
  • Currency.com bulks up for U.S. expansion by naming Enrico Serafini as US CEO and Dave Ackerman as US COO.

 

• Notable FinTech funding for the week:
  • Castellum.AI (financial crime compliance platform with in-house risk data, AML/KYC screening and AI agents) raised $8.5M in Series A funding round to accelerate AI agent and AML / KYC platform adoption.
  • Bilt (rent rewards app) raised $250M in new capital at a $10.75B valuation - WOWZA!!!!  As part of the blog, Bilt also announced their expansion into mortgage through direct partnerships with mortgage servicers; and the launch of Bilt Card 2.0 (coming early 2026), powered by Cardless, in a move away from Wells Fargo.
  • Ambrook (Ag, industrial, and small business accounting software app including Visa Charge Card) raised $29M in funding, including a $26.1M Series A round.

 
 
Random Uncle Sean stuff:

• It’s 7/11 Day – so don’t forget to pick up your free Slurpee at 7/11! 😋  BTW – did you know that 7-11 has a banking app?  Check it out the 7-11 Transact Family Card and app.
• 🏆 Congrats to Beatrice Chebet from Kenya as she broke 14 minutes for a new 5000m World Record at 13:58.06 at the Prefontaine Classic.  Watch her incredible last 200 meters here!!! 🔥🏃🏽‍♀️‍➡️
• Alright – it’s time for some Dad / Bad Jokes to hopefully lift some spirits and make folks smile:
  • Sometimes I read a text and think – WOW, what a complete psycho!  And then I press send! 🤪🙃
  • Firetrucks are actually water trucks… 🚒
  • “Spectator” (n) /’spek-tā-tər/ – Mr. and/or Mrs. Potato Head wearing glasses… 🥸😊
  • It was called the Dark Ages…  Because of all the Knights…. 🤔🙄
  • I’m not saying I’m old…  BUT…:
    • I used to wake up feeling like a million bucks; nowadays it’s more like insufficient funds!!! 🤷‍♂️🤠
    • I should probably use WD-40 as my pre-workout!!! 😂
    • Aunt Patty said the older I become, the cheaper I get – but I’m not buying that… 😅🤣

 
 
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.