Uncle Sean's Update - Week 49

Happy Friday!
 
I kind of enjoy this knowledge sharing thing, so I think I’m going to keep doing it for awhile.  Without further ado - here is another “General Update from Uncle Sean” for everyone.  The purpose of this is high level FYI items to keep in mind in case they come up in discussions with customers / prospects or other meetings (“in case you missed it” kind of stuff).  Or you can just delete it – LOL!!!
 

• BaaS - We are up to 70 Sponsor FI’s (66 Banks + 4 Sponsor Credit Unions)!!!  WOOHOO!!!  Also – just in case you were wondering, we are tracking 266 specific B2C fintech companies (aka challenger FI’s).  There are a lot more out there, but we pretty much have all the headliners.
  • Also tracking 77 Direct Banks comprised of 27 chartered FI’s, 2 waiting for charters (de novo), and 48 digital only FI’s (divisions of a chartered institution)

 

• Stripe Treasury – Probably the biggest fintech headline this week is Stripe entering the checking account space.  https://stripe.com/treasury

 

• Crypto Currency is the buzz word of the week - undoubtedly because Bitcoin hit +19,000 and is up 165% since the beginning of the year.  Largely driven by PayPal announcement that it would soon allow its users and merchants to buy, sell, hold, and accept Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as a form of payment - https://www.paypal.com/us/smarthelp/article/cryptocurrency-on-paypal-faq-faq4398?app=searchAutoComplete
  • BlockFI announced they are launching a credit card that incorporates crypto rewards - https://blockfi.com/join-the-waitlist-for-the-worlds-first-ever-bitcoin-rewards-credit-card

 

• BNPL – QuickFree just launched a BNPL application for business / professional services.  “Embedded Finance” anyone - LOL???  Check it out - https://quickfee.com

 

• LendUp launched a new fintech called Ahead - https://www.aheadmoney.com/

 

• Visa is still fighting it out with the DOJ over antitrust concerns regarding their pending acquisition of Plaid -https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-sues-block-visas-proposed-acquisition-plaid
  • Recall last week where Mastercard got DOJ approval to acquire Finicity; and Credit Karma had to divest their tax business to Square in order for Intuit to get DOJ approval to acquire Credit Karma
    • https://techcrunch.com/2020/11/16/the-doj-has-approved-mastercards-acquisition-of-finicity/
    • https://www.pymnts.com/news/partnerships-acquisitions/2020/intuit-closes-multibillion-dollar-deal-for-credit-karma/

 

• Great CNBC interview with Dallas Fed President, Robert Kaplan.  Summary – he is expecting tough economic conditions in the short-term due to the rapid increase in COVID-19 cases with credit losses peaking in 2Q2021 (this is what I am reading from the Big Banks as well).  However, he expects an overall annual GDP of 3 – 3.5% for 2021 with a strong weighting on 3rd and 4th quarters (expecting flat to negative GDP for 1st half of 2021).  https://www.dallasfed.org/news/Interviews/int201202.aspx

 

• Square – have you seen their stock market valuations lately (NYSE: SQ)???  300+ P/E Ratio – are you kidding me???  For reference, Visa and Mastercard trade at about 40 - 50 P/E.  Holy cow!!!  https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/SQ?p=SQ&.tsrc=fin-srch

 
 
 
Random Uncle Sean stuff:

• For my son's 23rd birthday (yesterday), we bought dinner from the Texas Crab Company (local food truck).  It was super good and I highly recommend them.  Check them out on Facebook / Instagram as they move around the Hill Country every few days or so.
• I joined AARP this year
• I have gained 18 pounds since the Pandemic started (I’m an overachiever)
• Christmas decorations are expensive
• My daughter (Claire) takes her driving test next Thursday!!!!  Oh dear Lord!!!!!

 
 
Have a great weekend everyone!!!!  Stay safe and practice social distancing whenever possible.
  
Uncle Sean
smayo@fedfis.com