Happy Friday!!!
What is it with 4 day workweeks that just kill us???!!! Here is the Uncle Sean Update for 6/23/23:
- The BaaS Association (part of the BHB network) was busy this week welcoming new members Treasury Prime and Infinant. Welcome aboard!!!
- And more Treasury Prime news as they partner with Checkout.com with plans to launch several initiatives in the coming months (including Debit Card Funding product for account opening).
- I like seeing this – Citi has collaborated with Best Buy to introduce the Bridge built by Citi® Platform to Best Buy Suppliers, a supplier finance platform providing loans between $100K and $10M.
- The really cool part is that this platform is connected to over 75 community and regional banks, including more than 20 Minority Depository Institutions (MDIs) and 4 women-owned banks – Nice job Citi!!!! 😊
- Take a look at the dedicated website for Best Buy suppliers at www.bridgebuiltbyciti.com/bestbuy
- Jack Henry announced the launch of Payrailz® Fraud Monitor for AI-enhanced real-time payments fraud detection.
- We knew it was coming, but it’s official now – the U.S. Department of Education stated that student loan payments will restart in October with interest to resume accruing beginning Sept 1. Hopefully, this doesn’t result in delinquencies/asset quality concerns in other areas of personal loans (here’s looking at you Credit Card and Auto debt).
- Congrats to Chris Davis for the recent promotion to SVP, COO at RiverBank!
- 👀 Google Cloud announced the launch of Anti Money Laundering AI tool to help financial institutions “more effectively and efficiently detect money laundering.”
- Plaid announced the launch of Beacon, an anti-fraud network for fintechs and financial institutions to log / track bad actors in order to “mitigate repeat fraud against businesses, protect consumers, and create a safer digital finance ecosystem.”
- Meanwhile, the CFPB is working on creating their own public registry of nonbank persons that are under certain public enforcement orders and will include information regarding those orders.
- Continuing the trend from last week, there was certainly no shortage of ‘wheelin & dealin’ in the merger space for fintechs:
- Robinhood to acquire X1 credit card platform for $95M.
- BM Technologies (NYSE: BMTX, f/k/a BankMobile) acquired Envel, an AI powered PFM app, in what has been described as a liquidation sale of Envel.
- Baker Hill to be acquired by Flexpoint Ford private equity firm
- Well, that didn’t last very long…. Crypto custodian BitGo has terminated the planned acquisition of Prime Trust just two weeks after announcing the acquisition. 😲
- Prime Trust has now halted all USD deposits and withdrawals by order from Nevada regulator stating “the overall financial condition of Respondent has considerably deteriorated to a critically deficient level, and is now in a position where it is in an unsafe or unsound condition to transact business…”
- As expected, the DOJ is looking at expanding the scope of competitive factors for bank merger review beyond the old school approach of branch overlap and market concentration of deposits (although I admit that “Herfindahl-Hirschman index” is fun to say – LOL).
- Worth noting that the OCC, FDIC, and Federal Reserve are also in the process of revamping bank merger guidelines that have largely been in place since 1995.
- Figure launched a HELOC wholesale model enabling originators to seamlessly access Figure’s home equity line of credit offering.
- Sezzle (BNPL installment platform) announced the launch of Sezzle Pay Anywhere, a subscription-based product that allows shoppers to use their Sezzle Virtual Card to pay anywhere Visa is accepted whether it be online, in-store, or bill pay.
- Notable FinTech funding for the week:
- Yendo (f/k/a Otto – credit card collateralized by car ownership) raised $24M in Series A funding round.
- For my Ag Banker friends (Uncle Sean loves AgTech), Guardian Agriculture (autonomous drones for commercial farming as an alternative to crop dusting and ground spraying) raised $20M in Series A funding to continue to scale their U.S. operations. The article cites more than $100M in pre-orders – NICE!!! 👍
- Aktos (system of record for modernized debt collection agencies) raised $4.4M in Seed funding to build an AI-powered operating system for the debt collection industry.
Random Uncle Sean stuff:
- I don’t know how I feel about this just yet – but it is very interesting nonetheless… The USDA approved two California companies this week, UPSIDE Foods and GOOD Meat, to sell chicken made from animal cells (aka “lab-grown meat”) instead of slaughtered animals. AP News has a good summary; and here are the respective press releases for more info – GOOD Meat press release and UPSIDE Foods press release.
- One thing is for sure, this brings a whole new meaning to the phrase “tastes like chicken!” LOL 🐔🍗🤣
- Potential game changer??? Domino’s Pizza announced Pinpoint Delivery this week. Yep, you can now “drop a pin” within the Domino’s App showing your location and get your favorite pizza delivered straight to you. I’m sure there are certain geographic/distance restrictions (don’t think they are going to hand deliver your pie to you after you hiked 15 miles in the middle of nowhere and got a pizza craving, but you get the gist) – “customers and delivery experts will meet at specific locations designated in the Domino’s app that may be adjacent to places like parks, baseball fields and beaches…” That’s a good start – no address / no problem. “Pin me.” 🍕
- ICYMI (Uncle Sean loves this) – Apparently, Fed Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is a Deadhead!!!! “I’ve been a Grateful Dead fan for 50 years.” Rock on Chair Powell!!!! 🤘😎
- And last but certainly not least – this week’s rendition of Dad Jokes from Uncle Sean!!!!
- Excessive heat warning for my fellow Texans – remember to drink plenty of water and stay indoors from 11 AM to November. 😝
- Noah’s Captain’s Log on Day 39: “Grilled Unicorn is delicious!”
- Cows knees are also referred to as burger joints….
- I haven’t spoken to Aunt Patty’s sister in years… I didn’t want to interrupt her… LOL!!!! 🤣
Have a GREAT weekend and please stay safe!!!
Uncle Sean
