Uncle Sean's Update - 8/30/24

​Happy Friday!!!
 
Happy Labor Day Weekend!!!! 🤠  It was a fairly light week in the banking and fintech market research space (thankfully – LOL), so let’s jump right in so we can get the long weekend started.  Here is the Uncle Sean Update for 8/30/24:
 

• The BEA July PCE (the Fed’s preferred measure of inflation) report came in very benign and largely as expected at 2.5% over last year and 0.2% over June.  Core PCE came in at 2.6% over last year and 0.2% for the month. 
  • For reference - PCE inflation, month-over-month, July (+0.2% expected, +0.1% previously); PCE inflation, year-over-year, July (+2.6% expected, +2.5% previously); "Core" PCE, month-over-month, July (+0.2% expected, +0.2% previously); "Core" PCE, year-over-year, July (+2.7% expected; +2.6% previously).
  • Next up on the data front is the August Jobs Report from the BLS on next Friday, Sept 6th at 7:30 AM CDT.

 

• Shout out to Q2 (NYSE: QTWO) as they celebrate 20 year anniversary of innovation in the banking industry. 👏 Keep up the good work!!! 😊

 

• Narmi announced it is now live with FedNow® service in receive mode with Grasshopper Bank (FDIC 59113; Total Assets $836M) as the first step in Grasshopper’s instant payments strategy.  Per the PR:
  • Narmi’s seamless integration with FIS’s IBS core via Code Connect platform enabled Grasshopper Bank’s efficient FedNow Service implementation.
  • “Through the FedNow Service, Grasshopper is positioned to provide its On-Core financial technology (fintech) clients with the option to receive payments in real-time, offering enhanced cash flow management, immediate access to funds, and improved operational efficiency. The ability to receive instant payments is particularly crucial for fintechs and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that depend on timely transactions to sustain and grow their operations.”  Nice! 😎

 

• WebBank (FDIC 34404; Total Assets $2.2B) to be the exclusive bank partner for Sezzle BNPL, subscription products, and card products.
  • WebBank is a known powerhouse in the Sponsor Bank arena focusing on the credit / asset side of embedded finance (including cards).  Some key customers include Klarna, Zip, and PayPal among many others.  For more detail – contact Bobby Button in relation to the FedFis FinTech Analytics© database (nice plug if I do say so myself - LOL 😊).

 

• PayPal (Nasdaq: PYPL) expands its global partnership with Fiserv by simplifying how Fiserv (NYSE: FI) “clients enable PayPal, Venmo and related services, and provides these businesses with a simple connection point to Fastlane by PayPal to accelerate guest checkout flows in the U.S.”

 

• Synctera teams up with Marqeta to offer the Synctera Fleet Card for the freight and logistics industries.

 

• Surety Bank (FDIC 33026; Total Assets $206M) selects Apiture for Online and Mobile digital banking upgrade.

 

• CPI Card Group announced a partnership with Rippleshot to provide its AI/ML-based fraud prevention services to CPI customers.

 

• 👀 Interesting to me…  Orlando Credit Union (Charter 68706; Total Assets $358M) launches new merchant services via Fort Point Payments, Inc. ” to help businesses streamline their payment processes and support growth with advanced payment solutions.”
  • Seeing more and more CUs leaning into business / commercial banking services (and my opinion is that this is a large driver for CUs acquiring banks).  Recall a few weeks back where more CU announcements regarding commercial and non-traditional operations:
    • 8/13/24 - Forum Credit Union (Charter 68248; Total Assets $2.1B) selects Apiture Business Banking Solution to deliver online and mobile banking to its commercial members. 
    • 8/14/24 - North Bay Credit Union (Charter 63373; Total Assets $121M) selects Sharetec’s web-based core, Sharetec Velocity for its innovation and Open API platform – presumably for BaaS / embedded finance.

 

• Some personnel moves:
  • Socure promotes Matt Thompson to Chief Revenue Officer (CRO).
  • Taktile hires Jason Mikula as Head of Industry Strategy for Banking & Fintech.  Selfishly, I hope Jason Mikula is still able to commit sufficient time to his Fintech Business Weekly newsletter!!! 😊
  • Payouts Network appoints Jeffery D. Johnson as Chief Revenue Officer.

 

• Notable FinTech funding for the week:
  • Linker Finance (digital banking platform focused on community FI’s) raised $3.7M Seed Round.
  • PrivacyHawk (consumer data protection) $3M in new capital while officially passing “1 million users just 2 years after launching.”
  • Comun (neo immigrant banking app) raised $21.5M in Series A funding round just nine months after their $4.5M raise.
  • Parafin (lending side infrastructure solution for embedded finance) closed a $93M debt facility with potential to increase to $187M.

 
 
Random Uncle Sean stuff:

• Have you seen BLAND.AI (check out the video demo) – voice AI for automated calling operations (can accommodate both outbound and inbound)?  Not sure if I am incredibly impressed, terrified, or all of the above!!!
• Aunt Patty’s Mom and Dad are coming over for the weekend – rumor has it that we may head over to Shreveport for the day on Saturday for some gambling and shenanigans!  Sure hope I don’t have to get a second job when I get back – LOL!!!! 😊
• Okay – let’s crank out some Dad / Bad Jokes so we can get the Holiday Weekend started early:
  • Rolling out of bed is easy…. Getting up off of the floor is another story! 😬
  • Dogs are not allowed in bars because they can’t control their licker… 🐶😂
  • I run like the winded….  😅
  • Not saying I’m old, but “pulling an all-nighter” now means I didn’t have to wake up to go pee.
    • Ah but Confucius says, “it is better to wake up and pee than pee and then wake up…” 🙏

 
 
Have a GREAT Labor Day Holiday 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.