Uncle Sean's Update - February 5th 2021

Happy Friday!!!
 
There was a lot of activity in the payments space this week; and I heard a rumor that there is a football game this weekend! On to Uncle Sean's Update:

• Super Bowl Sunday is right around the corner!  Even if you don’t like football, pretty much everyone enjoys the Super Bowl commercials; and some have been leaked early.  This year sports a string of FinTech debuts into the most coveted ad space on TV.  Robinhood is moving forward with their commercial debut during the Super Bowl.  Judging by the smashing success (cough cough) of their PR and Communications Team recently, I can’t wait to see what they come up with!!!!  BNPL firm Klarna enters the space with SNL star and actress Maya Rudolph.  DoorDash has an ad featuring Daveed Diggs and Cookie Monster which is part of a larger marketing campaign focusing on deliveries beyond food.

 

• PayPal finds itself in a lot of news this week.  Notably their record earnings in which they gained 16 million accounts and transaction revenue increased 12% over 3Q.  However, they also find themselves in the middle of a CFPB investigation related to their Venmo platform alleged unauthorized fund transfers and collections process.

 

• Visa prepares payment rails for full range of cryptocurrency assets; and partners with fintech startup First Boulevard(fka Tenth) to pilot the new suite of crypto APIs.

 

• The Federal Reserve has updated their expected launch timing for real-time payments - FedNow instant paymentservice is expected to go live in 2023.  If you really want to geek-out, here is the link to FedNow as part of FRBservices.org.

 

• BNPL firm Klarna announced that they are experiencing tremendous growth in the US including doubling over last year to a record 15 million customers and is accelerating with “more than 1 million US customers joining Klarna each month since October 2020”.

 

• And we simply can’t allow a week to go by without mentioning another SPAC deal, so here it is - Payoneer goes public after SPAC acquisition valued at $3.3B by FTAC Olympus Acquisition Corp.  Payoneer has a pretty cool Investor Presentation deck (I like these presentations a little too much).

 

• LendingClub (NYSE: LC) completed its acquisition of Radius Bank.

 

• Startup Paybby acquires Wicket to enter into minority bank offerings.

 

• Clarity Money, purchased in 2018 by Goldman Sachs for $100M, is set to be shut down on March 5th as GS focuses on Marcus Insights.

 

• Narmi announced that they raised $20.4M Series A funding.

 

• FinTech startup Fair raises $20M and expects to launch in April following a beta period for family and friends in March.

 

• Just when you think you have seen it all, check out the startup TreeCard (coming soon)….  Yes, they appear to have the World’s first wooden debit card!  The core of the card is made from recycled plastic bottles and the exterior is made from sustainably sourced cherry wood.  I’m digging it!

 
We produced an internal white-paper about a week ago titled “Reassessing the Value of a Bank Charter”.  It was fun putting that together; and we always get a chance to have some good campfire conversations when we produce these reports.  One of the cool concepts that came out of it was the changing landscape of digital customer experience (CX, UX, Personalization, or whatever buzz word you want to apply) - specifically related to school aged children that are successfully completing their tasks remotely with Zoom meetings and deadlines….  And we thought Millennials changed the landscape – wait until these kids are a little bit older.  There will be a whole new set of demands and expectations.
 
Random Uncle Sean Stuff:

• We will be firing up the big smoker (good ole Nelly) for Super Bowl weekend and cooking chicken, sausage, and tri-tip.  God bless America!!!!
• Did you know that Catfish The TV Show has nothing to do with actual catfishing?  I wasted half an hour waiting to see what lake they were going to…  If you listen closely right now, you can literally hear my 16 year old daughters embarrassment – LOL!
• Have you seen the Chickasaw Nation PPE face masks?  You should definitely check this out on Instagram.  They distributed PPE to all of their citizens and people are posting pics of themselves from all over the US wearing their Chickasaw Nation face masks - very cool!!!! 

 
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.