Uncle Sean's Update - 7/14/23

Happy Friday!!!
 
HOLY MOLY it is HOT outside!!!  🔥🔥🔥  Don’t forget to sign up here to have the Uncle Sean Update delivered straight to your inbox every week (it’s cooler than crypto, more hip than Threads, and “Everybody’s Doin’ It” 😊)!!!  Here is the Uncle Sean Update for 7/14/23:
 

• Shout-out to my Texas friends at IBAT for launching IBATx Accelerator Program for community banks; AND announced CollateralEdge™ as the first fintech partner in the program!!!!
  • Uncle Sean really loves the great work that is being done for community banks through the IBAT and Bankers Helping Bankers platforms.  Collaboration and innovation is how we succeed!!!!  ♥️

 

• The BLS June CPI Report came in at 3.0% YoY (expectation was 3.1% and May was 4.0%) – Core CPI remains a little more sticky but also improved to 4.8% (expectation was 5.0% and May was 5.3%).
  • Marks 12 straight months of annual CPI declines signaling that the Fed is slowly winning its fight against inflation while productivity and the labor market remain resilient (for now).  CNBC has a good summary as always.

 

• Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve released the Beige Book summarizing economic activity through June 30 as “slightly increased” since May with “robust” tourism and travel activity.  Banking conditions were reported as “mostly subdued” as lending activity continued to soften.

 

• Owners Bank (the direct digital bank division of Liberty Bank, FDIC 17943) announced the launch of small business loans and lines of credit offerings in support of small businesses that are often left behind by big banks.  Check them out at Owners Bank.

 

• Jenius Bank (the new direct digital bank division of Manufacturers Bank, FDIC 18618) launches personal loans as its inaugural product with a full suite of banking products coming soon.  Take a look at what they are building at Jenius Bank™.

 

• 👀 Car IQ teams up with Visa to power the future of vehicle payments.  Uncle Sean is excited about the “connected vehicle payment” market and how this continues to evolve.  Particularly intrigued with Car IQ’s Know Your Machine™ technology.  Very cool stuff!!!

 

• Atomic (really good folks over there) announced a partnership with eCU Technology to bring automated direct deposit switching to credit unions.

 

• St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard is stepping down after 15 years in the role (WOW!!!) and will become the Dean of the Business School at Purdue effective August 15.  To be clear, Bullard was not a voting member of the FOMC, but has recently lead an influential and hawkish stance in regard to aggressive rate hikes to curb inflation.

 

• If you thought your week was rough 😬….  Former Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky was arrested Thursday and charged by three federal agencies (SEC, FTC, and CFTC) with securities, commodities and wire fraud and attempting to manipulate crypto currencies.

 

• ⚠️ CAREFUL – as we all know the medical industry is very popular in the Sponsor Bank / embedded finance & Direct Digital Bank models…  The CFPB, Dept of HHS, and US Treasury have launched an inquiry into high-cost specialty financial products (medical credit cards / installment loans) being “pushed on patients as a way to pay for routine medical care and which drive up health care costs and medical debt.”

 

• Bank of America was fined $250M by the CFPB and the OCC (consisting of $100 million in restitution to consumers and $150 million in additional fines) for double-charging consumers for insufficient fund fees, opening fake accounts for customers, and withholding credit card rewards.

 

• Notable FinTech funding for the week:
  • Equabli (debt collection and recovery platform) raised $3.35M in Capital
  • CapStack (bank-to-bank marketplace for portfolio diversification) raised $6M in Pre-Seed funding round.
  • Trunk Tools (construction-focused fintech) raised $9.9M in Seed round funding.
  • Efficient Capital Labs (alt lending – revenue based financing for B2B SaaS) raised $7M in Capital.

 
 
Random Uncle Sean stuff:

• Last weekend, Aunt Patty and I witnessed a Cicada Killer Wasp do its deed….  I’ve seen these huge wasps many times (they are scary looking but generally leave you alone), but have never seen them actually take down a Cicada before - It was very interesting and slightly terrifying all at the same time! 
• While on the subject of crazy and creepy stuff….  Check out this record breaking Burmese python that was captured in Florida this week (by hand nonetheless) measuring 19 feet long and weighing 125 pounds!!!!!  Yeah, that is a big ole “AW HECK NO” from Uncle Sean!!!! 🐍 😧
• I feel bad complaining about the heat when I see headlines like “Phoenix could hit 119 over the weekend” and “Unprecedented ocean surface temps surrounding Florida have scientists alarmed”….  Hoping this doesn’t turn into an agricultural disaster or lead to a severe second half of hurricane season…. 😟
• But in the meantime, let’s laugh a little at some heat related Dad jokes (because it’s better than crying)!!!!
  • It’s so hot Siri asked to be dipped in a glass of ice water.
  • It’s so hot you can’t make a chili dog. 
  • It’s so hot that the catfish in Tanner’s pond are already fried when you catch them. 🤠
  • I saw a chicken lay a fried egg.
  • My Iceberg lettuce melted….
  • Meanwhile in Texas, we’re all just sitting around and baking cookies on the car dash… 🍪😎

 
 
Have a GREAT weekend and please stay cool, hydrated, and 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.