Uncle Sean's Update - 7/31/26

​Happy Friday!!!
 
Hard to believe we are already welcoming the month of August this weekend (although I admit I am done with this Texas heat)!  Here is the Uncle Sean Update for 7/31/26 (subscribe here for free):
 
A couple of economic updates:
 

• It’s Fed Week!!!  The FOMC voted 9-3 to maintain interest rates at their current range of 3.5% - 3.75%.  The three dissenting votes (Hammack, Kashkari, and Logan – each of which are presidents of Fed Reserve Banks) all preferred a 25 bps increase in rates.
  • If you want to dig deeper, here is Chairman Warsh’s Press Conference Transcript (20 pages) and Press Conference Video (45:03).
  • Additionally, the dissenting members have provided beneficial and detailed explanations (all citing inflation trending too high when looking beyond supply-side shocks):
    • Statement from Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan on FOMC dissent - Dallasfed.org
    • Statement on My FOMC Dissent | Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis (Neel Kashkari)
    • Statement from Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland president Beth Hammack regarding her vote at the Federal Open Market Committee’s July 28–29 meeting
  • Coming up is the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium (Aug 27-29) and then the FOMC meeting in Sept 15-16 which includes the Summary of Economic Projections (Dot Plot).

 

• The BEA released the 2Q2026 GDP (first advanced estimate) showing an increase at an annual rate of 1.5% (1Q2026 was 2.1%).
  • Strong Consumer Spending once again led the way at 2.12% (1Q2026 was 0.37%)
  • Worth noting that Real Final Sales to Private Domestic Purchasers came in at a very strong 3.9% (1Q2026 was 1.7%).

 

• The BEA also released June PCE (the Fed’s preferred gauge of inflation) showing an annual 3.7% inflation rate (May was 4.1%) and Core PCE at 3.3% (May was 3.4%).
  • Headline PCE came down as of June mostly due to lower Gasoline and Other Energy Goods (recall Iran MOU / ceasefire at the end of June that has since fallen apart).
  • The Personal Saving Rate (as a % of DPI) came in at a very low 2.7%.

 
Now back to the rest of the update:
 

• Digital Onboarding announced Ready-to-Launch Audiences, powered by FinGoal, giving community FI’s the ability to package “complex transaction intelligence into pre-built, easy to select, audience segments, making precision targeting accessible to every FI marketing team regardless of data sophistication.”
  • 👉 Check it out at Ready-to-Launch Audiences | AI-Powered Audience Targeting for Financial Institutions

 

• BOND.AI announced the launch of self-service access to ARIA, its AI-powered banking intelligence platform designed exclusively for financial institutions.  “For the first time, banks and credit unions can subscribe to ARIA online and begin using banking-specific artificial intelligence in minutes.”
  • ARIA is designed to help FI’s move beyond descriptive reporting toward predictive decision-making.  Users can ask natural-language questions about deposits, lending, liquidity, net interest income, peer performance, and other critical metrics, receiving institution-specific responses instead of generic AI-generated content.

 

• Bank of Luxemburg (FDIC 13264; total assets $723M) goes live on CSI NuPoint core banking platform following a seamless conversion.  The bank also implemented CSI’s Hawthorn River loan origination platform.
  • “As we were evaluating the best fit for our future growth, CSI emerged as the strongest fit on both product and service,” said DeAnna Tittel, COO of Bank of Luxemburg. “The decision wasn’t just about finding a core; it was about finding the right long-term partner. We were ready to go two weeks before conversion. CSI had everything down like clockwork, and the conversion was seamless.”
    • The term “seamless” is not something you hear very often in a core conversion.  Very nice!!! 💪

 

• M C Bank & Trust Company (FDIC 17388; total assets $710M) selects Jack Henry (Nasdaq: JKHY) in a complete tech sweep to power core processing as well as the Banno Digital Platform for online and mobile; AND Jack Henry’s treasury management for business customers and Managed Secure Cloud supplying managed IT and cybersecurity expertise.
  • WHEW – that’s a lot to take in!!!!  😲

 

• Northrim Bank (FDIC 33216; total assets $3.4B) has been busy!!!  The bank has selected Narmi to modernize its digital banking ecosystem via the Narmi One Platform (unifying digital and account opening) emphasizing Narmi’s expertise in working with the banks existing FIS IBS core.
  • Just last week (7/22/26), Northrim BanCorp, Inc. (NASDAQ: NRIM; FR 3025385), bank subsidiary is Northrim Bank (FDIC 33216), announced an agreement to acquire PBCO Financial Corporation (PCO FR 5687273), bank subsidiary is People’s Bank of Commerce (FDIC 34685; total assets $777M) in an all-stock transaction valued at approximately $167.3M.

 

• Byline Bank (FDIC 20624; total assets $9.9B) partners with Lithic as a Sponsor Bank enabling Lithic to connect companies with Byline Bank to launch consumer and commercial card programs and banking services.

 

• Increase (BaaS and embedded finance infrastructure platform) introduced Increase Bank, an FDIC-insured institution following the completion of the acquisition of Twin City Bancorp (and subsequently Twin City Bank (FDIC 35261; total assets $115M) by Increase founder, Darragh Buckley.  This Banking Dive article is a good summary. 
  • This is another fintech infrastructure play similar to Column | The platform bank built for scale (recall their acquisition of Northern California Bank in 2022).

 

• Remitly (Nasdaq: RELY) announced the launch of the Remitly Global Card Visa debit card (issued by Lead Bank) designed for customers whose financial lives span multiple countries.

 

• Swaystack onboarding and engagement platform announced it is partnering with InstaSwitch to give Swaystack's bank and credit union customers a built-in way to move deposits and operational activity into newly opened business accounts.

 

• Pinwheel announced their ‘Switch Kit’ will be integrated with MeridianLink allowing MeridianLink’s 1,500 FI’s to rapidly deploy embedded Direct Deposit Switch and Bill Switch in their digital account onboarding experience.

 

• Grand Bank for Savings, FSB (FDIC 31864; total assets $280M) partnered with Continental Finance Company to introduce the Grand.bank® Plus Mastercard®,  a new credit card designed to expand access to credit and reward everyday spending. The card will be issued by Grand Bank for Savings, FSB and is expected to launch in early September 2026.

 

• Manifest Financial announced the launch of the Manifest Business Debit Mastercard (issued by MVB Bank) purpose-built for creators.
  • Manifest built its fast-scaling financial orchestration layer and expanded its platform to support multiple creator platforms across music, content, NIL (Name, Image, Likeness), talent representation and creative agencies.

 

• InvestiFi gets a two-fer this week 💪 (be sure to check out their embedded investing solution for community banks and credit unions at InvestiFi.com):
  • Utilities Employees Credit Union (charter 64896; total assets $1.5B) has partnered with InvestiFi to introduce embedded investing capabilities to its 64,000 members directly within the digital banking platform.
  • InvestiFi raised $20M in capital citing rapid growth “from just 4 clients in 2024 to more than 60 signed financial institutions as of July, 2026…” 🚀

 

• Mass. Institute of Tech. Federal Credit Union (dba MIT FCU; charter 3830; total assets $743M) has launched a new in-house BNPL solution, powered by equipifi, enabling its members to create and manage installment purchases (both on a pre-purchase and post-purchase basis) directly within the MIT FCU online and mobile app.  👍

 

• Some personnel moves:
  • Flex (private banking platform for business owners) appoints Michael Barrett as CTO following their $70.1M Series B raise announced a few weeks ago.
  • FI Works (data analytics, CRM, and marketing automation solutions built exclusively for banks and credit unions) adds Heather Bonaventura as Senior Vice President Sales and Growth.

 

• Notable FinTech funding for the week:
  • PEX (corporate card and expense management platform) $160M in debt and equity financing following “sustained triple-digit growth in PEX's charge card business and continued expansion of its broader platform, powering more than $11.7 billion in spend since inception.”  👏

 
 
Random Uncle Sean stuff:

• 📣 An obligatory IRS PSA (special thanks to my friend, Mr. Robin Fussell for updating me on this 😉) – the IRS has increased the Standard Mileage Rate for business and self-employed (7/1/26 – 12/31/26) to 76 cents per mile up from 72.5 cents per mile.  Source - https://www.irs.gov/tax-professionals/standard-mileage-rates.  So, make sure you are documenting that mileage log!!!
• Alright – I am cooked for the week so let’s jump right to the best part!  The Dad / Bad Jokes to launch us into the weekend vibe:
  • What do you call a man that has been attacked by a cat?  Claude… 🙀😹
  • Math teachers call retirement…  The aftermath… 🤦‍♂️😆
  • I have CDO…  It’s like OCD, but the letters are in alphabetical order AS THEY SHOULD BE!!!! 🙃😄
  • And my favorite for the week:
    • Due to financial reasons I’m going to have to start posting Adult Content…  So, stay tuned for my posts about cataracts, back pain, and short-term memory issues. 😂🤣

 
 
“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.