Uncle Sean's Update - 8/22/25

​Happy Friday!!!
 
It’s been a crazy busy week juggling way too many projects, but it’s almost over 😵‍💫 – so let’s jump right in!!!  Here is the Uncle Sean Update for 8/22/25:
 

• Well, Jackson Hole was no disappointment…  (tee up The Rock wrestling voice) - “IF YOU SMEEEELLLLL WHAT J-POW IS COOKING!”  Mic drop.  🤠  Oh, c’mon – that was funny!
  • 👉 Here is the punchline – Chairman Powell stated, “…with policy in restrictive territory, the baseline outlook and the shifting balance of risks may warrant adjusting our policy stance.” (bold emphasis added by Uncle Sean)
    • More detail from Chairman Powell’s speech:  Downside risks to employment are rising.  GDP growth has slowed (referencing a slowdown in consumer spending).  However, risks to inflation are rising as higher tariffs have begun to push up prices in some categories of goods. A reasonable base case for tariffs is that the effects will be relatively short-lived as a one-time shift in the price level; and “one-time” does not mean “all at once” – thus spreading the impact out.
  • Of course, being “data dependent” – we still need to see some more economic data prior to the FOMC meeting in Sept, but the door for a rate cut certainly appears to be opening.
  • Here is Chairman Powell’s Jackson Hole speech (and link to video feed) on the economic outlook and framework review.

 

• 👀 CSI grabs headlines this week with their announced acquisition of Apiture digital banking platform with closing expected in 4Q2025! 🚀
  • “Apiture and CSI share a customer-first approach to financial innovation,” said Nancy Langer, president and CEO of CSI. “By integrating Apiture’s industry-leading capabilities, especially in business banking, we are creating an even more robust platform that empowers community financial institutions to compete and grow. This combination allows us to deliver the scale, speed and innovation our customers need while staying true to the relationship-driven service that has always defined community and regional banking.”
    • CSI has been on the acquisition trail for a few years now with the 2023 acquisition of Hawthorn River and the 2024 acquisition of Velocity Solutions.  Although the Apiture deal specifics were not disclosed, my latest research shows that Apiture has raised at least $79M in total funds since inception in 2017 (per this funding announcement from Nov 2023).

 

• MeridianLink makes some announcements this week following their buyout from Centerbridge announced last week (noting Centerbridge and Bridgepoint were the firms that acquired CSI back in 2022):
  • Jack Henry (Nasdaq: JKHY) and MeridianLink expand their strategic reseller relationship, building on a “15-year alliance to jointly serve over 500 banks and credit unions and new joint customers.”  Jack Henry will now resell the suite of MeridianLink® One platform solutions, including MeridianLink® Mortgage and MeridianLink® Consumer.
  • OttoMoto (digital onboarding technology for auto, RV, powersport, marine and aircraft dealers) announced its integration with MeridianLink® DecisionLender® platform built for finance companies emphasizing both direct and indirect installment loans.

 

• Flex of the week 💪 goes out to Upgrade as they have surpassed $2 Billion in loans originated in their Home Improvement vertical.  This comes just a few months after hitting the $1B mark in Dec of last year.  Oh – and keep in mind that their first home improvement loan origination of $18K was in Nov 2022.  How’s that for some scale!!! 💥
  • By the way (here comes the shameless plug 😊)…  The sponsor bank partner on the home improvement side is Cross River Bank (FDIC 58410; total assets $7.9B) – but if you’re a customer of our FedFis FinTech Analytics© database, you already knew that.  Reach out to our own Bobby Button for more info!!! 🤠

 

• Finzly announced their integration with Q2's Digital Banking Platform enabling financial institutions on the Q2 platform to let their account holders send and track cross-border, domestic, and instant payments without leaving the digital interface.

 

• OMB Bank (FDIC 8252; total assets $2B) partners with Greenlight to help families teach kids and teens smart money habits through the Greenlight for Banks program.  🎉
  • Uncle Sean is a HUGE proponent of financial literacy programs – especially for kids and teens. ❤️

 

• Alloy (identity and fraud prevention platform) and Mastercard partner together to launch enhanced identity and fraud prevention solution to streamline onboarding.  Nice!!! 👏

 

• More account opening enhancements…  Candescent announced major enhancements to its account opening and onboarding platform (Candescent Terafina) allowing for intelligent templates giving Fis control over the account opening experience.  Essentially gives Fis the ability to define “more precisely what happens before and after an account is opened, delivering more successful, personalized and compressed onboarding journeys.”

 

• AffiniPay (technology and embedded finance solutions for lawyers and accountants) announced their rebranding to 8am to better reflect its evolution from a payment processor to a broader platform solution “integrating practice management, artificial intelligence, embedded financial services, and other essential business tools.”

 

• Grasshopper Bank, N.A. (FDIC 59113; total assets $1.3B) has launched a first-of-its-kind Model Context Protocol (MCP) server from Narmi that will allow its business clients to access personalized financial analysis and insights through Claude, Anthropic's advanced artificial intelligence (AI) assistant.
  • “Narmi's MCP server enables Grasshopper's small business and startup clients that work with Claude to securely query their financial information. Users can ask questions like "What's my checking account balance?" or "Can you categorize my top 10 recurring vendors?" and receive instant responses generated directly by the AI assistant. Data transfers to and from the MCP are underpinned by Narmi's robust security framework, including encryption of all data in transit and at rest.”

 

• The branch is dead…  Long live the branch!!! 👑 Truist Bank (FDIC 9846; total assets $536B) announced plans to build 100 new branches in a mass-affluent grab.

 

• Gather Federal Credit Union (Charter 9381; total assets $881M) launches GatherFLEX, their branded BNPL solution powered by equipifi.  GatherFLEX is the “first BNPL product offered by a credit union in the state of Hawaiʻi.”  👏
  • Check it out at GatherFLEX | Gather Federal Credit Union – and check out their AI-Chat Bot / Digital Assistant in the lower right part of the screen named Piko!!!  Very cool!!! 🤙🍍

 

• The NCUA adds a website to provide resources on risk management considerations specific to AI, “which may help credit unions make informed decisions when implementing AI or partnering with AI service providers.”

 

• Meanwhile…  In a newly released OIG Report, the inspector general states that while the FDIC has “taken steps to establish goals and metrics, they were not measurable or directly linked to [Significant Service Provider Examination Program] success factors…”  Adding, “In the absence of clear programmatic goals and metrics, the FDIC has limited assurance that the SSP Examination Program is achieving its intended purpose…”
  • This Banking Dive article titled “FDIC oversight of large third parties needs clearer goals, OIG says” is a good summary.

 

• 👉 To my banker friends (especially in Texas)…  Even if you are on the fence about AI in your bank operations, please take note here as the OpenAI Stargate data center project is creating a new energy and construction boom already in progress $$$:
  • Check out Vantage Data Centers Unveils Plans for “Frontier,” a $25B Mega-campus in Texas to Meet Unprecedented AI Demand – a 1.4GW (Doc Brown’s DeLorean time machine from Back to the Future only needed 1.21GW, but I digress 🤠) data center campus in Shackelford County, TX sitting on 1,200 acres (yes, that’s $25 Billion with a “B”… cha-ching 💰💰💰)!!!
    • The article states the project will “employ more than 5,000 individuals across construction and ongoing operations.”  For reference, the population for Shackelford County is estimated at 3,300 (located about 35 miles northeast of Abilene)….  Now that’s some serious local economic impact on everything from restaurants, housing, and clothes to automobile sales, retail, tools and home improvement items, etc….
      • Umm (cough cough) 😬…  Even though these massive data center projects are mainly supplemented with renewable energy via wind turbines (and natural gas-powered turbines as backup – hello Permian Basin), can one of my Texas friends please get in touch with ERCOT and make sure they are contingency planning the public grid!!! 😊

 

• Some personnel moves:
  • KlariVis names Shon Aguero as EVP of Corporate Development.
  • Ncontracts appoints Clay Carter as Chief Information Security Officer.

 

• Notable FinTech funding for the week:
  • Casca (AI-native loan origination platform) raised $29M in Series A funding round.
  • Klarna (BNPL) picks up a $26B Forward Flow Deal With Nelnet to expand Pay-in-4 in the U.S.

 
 
Random Uncle Sean stuff:

• 🤷‍♂️ WTH is a Labubu??? 😂  If you’re like me and have been blissfully unaware, this article in Today sheds some light into the creepy little monster charms (and the legitimate impact of influencer marketing) as it becomes the latest fashion craze (queue up some Gen X and Boomer flashbacks of the Cabbage Patch Kids phenomenon of ’83 as well as Beanie Babies and Tickle me Elmo craze in mid to late 90’s).  Oh and before you shake your head too much at this (like me) - this Yahoo Finance article states that Labubu sales are on track to easily top $1B this year…!!! 🤦🤯
• Tonight is the night!!!  We get a fairly rare black moon and it might be our last shot at seeing the end of the Perseid meteor shower!!!  Fingers crossed for clear skies!
• You made it!!!  Here are the Dad / Bad Jokes for the week:
  • Plagiarism: Getting in trouble for something you literally didn’t do… 😆
  • Life in the Stone Age was…  Hard… 🫤😏
  • How rare is it for a cow to be struck by lightning…???  About medium rare… 😲🤠🥩
  • Ah, the pizza 🍕 conundrum…  Is it the ultimate “pie chart” showing how much pizza you have left; or how much you have already eaten…??? 🤔🤣
  • Last but certainly not least…  I’m not saying I’m old, but…  I’m getting to the age where it’s considered rude to pull out a bottle of ibuprofen if you don’t have enough for everyone!!! 🧓😅

 
 
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.