Uncle Sean’s Update 1/30/26

Happy Friday!!!
Hoping everyone has made it through the recent winter storms relatively unscathed 🙏 as we wrap up the first 100 days or so of January 🤠…  Here is the Uncle Sean Update for 1/30/26 (subscribe here for free):

• President Trump nominates Kevin Warsh for Federal Reserve chair to succeed Jerome Powell.  Following Senate confirmation, Warsh will take over in May when current Chairman Powell’s term expires.

• It’s Fed Week!  As was widely expected in the first FOMC meeting of 2026, the Fed voted to keep interest rates at their current range of 3.5% – 3.75% after three consecutive cuts to close out 2025 noting robust economic growth and signs of stability in the unemployment rate.
  • As noted in the FOMC statement above related to the 10-2 vote, Stephen I. Miran and Christopher J. Waller were the two dissenting votes who preferred to lower the target range for the federal funds rate by 1/4 percentage point at this meeting.
  • For more detail, here is Chairman Powell’s Press Conference transcript (24 pages) and the Press Conference video (50:15)
    • Notable (to me anyway 😊) comments from Chairman Powell during the press conference include:
      • AI’s role in the slowing labor market is “hard to say,” tariff impact expected to peak “sometime in the middle quarters of the year,” and a rate hike “isn’t anybody’s base case” right now.

• 🎉More US charters!!!  💥Nu (NYSE: NU), one of the largest digital financial platforms in the world with 127M+ customers across Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia, has received conditional approval from the OCC for the formation of a de novo national bank, Nubank, N.A. here in the US.
  • “Nu has now entered the bank organization phase, which involves satisfying specific OCC conditions alongside pending required approvals from the FDIC and the Federal Reserve. During this phase, the company will focus on fully capitalizing the institution within 12 months and opening the bank within 18 months, as required by regulators. Nu submitted its application to the OCC on September 30, 2025.”  NICE!!! 👏

• Flex 💪 of the week goes out to my friends at Vine Financial as they tripled their customer base and grew revenues by 200% in 2025!  🚀 Congrats to the entire team at Vine as they lean into 2026.  Check out their innovative Commercial Lending platform at vinefin.com and tell them Uncle Sean sent you! 😊
  • “2025 proved to be a year of incredible progress for us. We made significant strides with product strategy, we’ve seen great adoption among both community banks and credit unions and been able to bring on new investors,” said David Eads, CEO and co-founder of Vine. “Our accomplishments this year were a huge testament to what Vine can do, and we are only getting started. I look forward to all the ways our platform and our lenders will grow in 2026.”

• Nacha does some flexing too as they  announced new highs in 2025 with growth in both standard and Same Day ACH as well as growth in B2B payments noting:
  • Full year ACH Network volume of 35.2B payments (up nearly 5% over 2024) with a value of $93T (yeah, that is Trillion with a T 😲💰 – an increase of almost 8%).

• Zelle also noted gains in 2025 for community banks and credit unions representing at least 13M bank and CU accounts eligible for Zelle within 46 US states and territories.  Notable 2025 stats include:
  • 337 FI’s went live or signed up to bring Zelle to their customers during 2025.
  • 97% were community banks and credit unions with assets of less than $10 billion.
  • Also noted new reseller relationships with Velera to expand Zelle access for Minority Deposit Institution (MDI) credit unions; and Alacriti to embed Zelle into its Orbipay Payments Hub.

• 👀 Alkami Technology (ALKT) has reportedly hired an advisor to explore strategic options including a possible sale according to a Bloomberg report.

• Unfortunately, Seis (immigrant-focused banking app partnered with Thread Bank and Unit) is winding down operations citing a change in immigration patterns and less demand for the product.
• Affirm (Nasdaq: AFRM) continues to make headlines following last weeks announcement that they have submitted applications to establish Affirm Bank, a proposed Nevada ILC.
  • Fiserv (Nasdaq: FISV) announced an exclusive partnership with Affirm (Nasdaq: AFRM) to bring BNPL capabilities as a turnkey integration to existing debit card programs for banks and credit unions.
    • “Fiserv and Affirm first partnered in 2022 to integrate Affirm into Commerce Hub, enabling merchants to offer buy now, pay later (BNPL) at checkout. This latest expansion underscores Fiserv’s commitment to delivering innovative debit solutions that help financial institutions compete and meet rising consumer expectations.”
  • Bolt selects Affirm as their default BNPL provider enabling Bolt merchants in the US to offer flexible payment options at checkout.

• Equifax (NYSE: EFX) introduced Income Confirm providing verified employment and income data along with credit reports to provide lenders with a more comprehensive view of applicant credit risk and financial capacity.

• OnePay (Walmart fintech division) announced a new free feature where OnePay Cash customers can file their taxes directly through the OnePay app via partnership with april’s embedded tax platform (getapril.com).

• Lithic expands its partner bank network with the addition of Stearns Bank National Association (FDIC 10988; total assets $3.3B).

• Kemba Credit Union (charter 61810; total assets $1.75B) selects Velera for debit and credit card processing services and support.  Velera will begin providing debit and credit processing support to Kemba in August 2026.

• 👉 GESA Credit Union (charter 68278; total assets $6.4B) announced a partnership with Selah School District to launch a student-run High School Credit Union branch at Selah High School and a co-branded Affinity Debit Card.  Even more impressive is that this is GESA’s 25th High School Credit Union Program!!! 🎉
  • “The student-run branch will operate during school hours at Selah High School, giving students the opportunity to open accounts, make deposits and withdrawals, and experience an authentic credit union atmosphere. The branch will be staffed by student tellers and led by a paid student intern who serves as Campus Branch Manager—a position that provides professional development experience and a competitive edge for future employment.”
    • ❤️ Uncle Sean loves seeing this and the engagement with young people as I feel that financial literacy is not emphasized enough in our schools – AND the added bonus of introducing banking and finance to our young adults…  Nice work GESA CU!!! 🤙

• Some personnel moves:
  • CSI appoints Abe Kuruvilla as Chief Information and Technology Officer.
  • Walmart’s OnePay names Patrick O’Connell as Chief Financial Officer.
  • NCR Atleos appoints Rohan Pal as new CIO.

• Notable FinTech funding for the week:
  • Mine (fka Fizz, a personal finance company for young adults including AI-powered personal guidance) raised $14M in Series A funding round.

Random Uncle Sean stuff:

• 🏈 Super Bowl LX is set for next Sunday, Feb 8th at 5:30 CST on NBC as the Seattle Seahawks take on the New England Patriots.  Aunt Patty is not a fan of the Pat’s (to say the least) so we will be pulling for the Seahawks!
• Umm…  Why can’t the Monday after the Super Bowl be a National Holiday???  Can someone please fix this!!!! 🤠🍺
• And of course we have the obligatory Dad / Bad Jokes related to this crazy weather to get us into the weekend vibe:
  • What bites but doesn’t have teeth?  Frost.. 😁
  • The only blizzard I want to see is at Dairy Queen!!! 🍦
  • On a positive note…  I haven’t seen any mosquitoes this week!!! 🦟🤠
  • (activate Samuel L. Jackson voice) And on this day, all the forest animals gathered and proclaimed in one voice, “okay Mr. Groundhog – you have about two days to get your 💩 together!”  😂🤣
  • Saving the best for last…
    • I must admit…  Greenland deploying their weather on us was an unanticipated first strike!!! 😬🥶

Have a GREAT weekend and please stay safe!
Uncle Sean