BM Technologies, Inc.

Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to the BM Technologies second quarter 2023 earnings call. Please note that this event is being recorded. Following management's prepared remarks, we will hold a question and answer session. For those joining on the webcast, you can submit your questions online where the management team can see them. At this time, I'd like to turn the conference call over to Brian Preneveau, Investor Relations for BM Technologies. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Operator, and good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for joining us for BM Technologies' second quarter earnings call. Before we begin, we would like to remind you that some of the statements we make today may be considered forward-looking. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that may cause actual performance results to differ materially from what is currently anticipated. Please note that these forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this presentation, and we undertake no obligation to update these forward-looking statements in light of new information or future events, except to the extent required by applicable securities law. Please refer to our SEC filings, including our Form 10-K and 10-Qs, for a more detailed description of the risk factors that may affect our results. Copies may be obtained from the SEC or by visiting the investor relations section of our website. At this time, it is my pleasure to turn the call over to Lavleen Sidhu, VM Technology CEO. Lavleen?

Thanks, Brian, and good afternoon, everyone. Joining me on the call today is Raj Singh, our co-CEO, and Jim Dellinger, our CFO. On today's call, we will discuss our second quarter and first half of 2023 results. We will also provide updates on various initiatives, including our partner bank, profit enhancement plan, and growth initiatives. As I mentioned on our first quarter call, this past year has been challenging, especially for FinTechs. We have had to adapt to unprecedented interest rate increases, changes in the regulatory landscape, pressure on FinTech valuations, a banking crisis, and the end of unprecedented stimulus into the system, just to name a few. With these changes came the need to look closely at our company and adapt to the shifting realities of today. In response, we pivoted from becoming a bank to focusing on becoming a lean, innovative, and risk-oriented fintech. In doing so, we made several significant decisions and took decisive actions since the beginning of the year to strengthen our foundation and position us for growth in 2024 and beyond. Some of these actions included, one, our large reduction in force, including changes at the executive leadership level. Two, entering into a definitive agreement with Durban exempt First Carolina Bank for our higher education portfolio. Three, renewing our relationship with our largest BAS client for another two years. Four, amending our deposit agreement with Customers Bank to reflect variable rate pricing to increase our margin. And five, recruiting and bringing on a seasoned executive like Raj Singh to serve as my partner and co-CEO. These changes continue to position us well for our future. We haven't stopped here. We continue to build upon the momentum in the first quarter of the year to where we sit today. We will talk more about some of these initiatives throughout our call. Before getting into that, I would like to briefly mention some financial highlights from the quarter and first half of the year. Operating revenues for the three and six months ended June 30, 2023, totaled $13 million and $26.5 million, respectively. Had a Durban-exempt bank partnership been in place during the second quarter, our interchange revenue for our higher education vertical would have been at least 50% higher on a gross basis. This would have resulted in positive core EBITDA for the second quarter. With regards to this, I would also like to mention that we have a significant update as it relates to our partner, First Carolina Bank. We have recently entered into an amendment of our existing deposit agreement that will allow us to accelerate the transfer of our higher education deposits independent of the ongoing regulatory review process We plan to transition these deposits as soon as possible, but no later than December 31st of this year. We view transitioning of these deposits as a very high priority to ensure positive cash flow and to position our company for growth over the long term. We're also on track to realize the benefits of our profit enhancement plan with a goal of cutting costs by 15 million. At the end of the second quarter, We had already realized over 60% of those estimated savings, and we anticipate that we'll complete those initiatives throughout 2023 and into 2024. Lastly, the addition of Raj Singh as co-CEO has been valuable, as he has focused his efforts on enhancing our systems, processes, and product offerings to further drive cost efficiencies and identify new revenue opportunities for the company. We believe these initiatives will continue to enhance our value. Raj will speak about some of these initiatives shortly. Additionally, we are actively exploring how to effectively use AI to improve our operations, risk management, fraud capabilities, and customer engagement. As I stated earlier, we view 2023 as a year of strengthening our foundation so we are well positioned for growth in 2024 and beyond. and we believe we are on a solid path to achieve this. I will now turn the call over to our CFO, Jim Dollinger, to review financials. Jim?