Pathward Financial, Inc.

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by, and welcome to the Metta Financial Group Second Quarter Fiscal Year 2021 Investor Conference Call. During the presentation, all participants will be in a listen-only mode. Following the prepared remarks, we will conduct a question-and-answer session. As a reminder, this conference call is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Brittany Kelley-Elsasser, Director of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Thank you. Hello. I would like to welcome everyone to the Meta Financial Group conference call and webcast, where President and CEO Brad Hanson and Executive Vice President and CFO Glenn Herrick will discuss the results of our second fiscal quarter ended March 31st, 2021. Also participating in this call is Brett Spahr, Co-President and COO of MetaBank. Additional information, including the earnings release and investor presentation, may be found on our website at metafinancialgroup.com. As a reminder, our comments may include forward-looking statements. Those statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual and anticipated results to differ. The company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement. Please refer to the cautionary language in the earnings release, investor presentation, and in META's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our most recent filings, for additional information covering factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statement. Additionally, today we will be discussing certain non-GAAP financial measures on this conference call. References to non-GAAP measures are only provided to assist you in understanding META's results and performance trends. Reconciliations for such non-GAAP measures are included within the appendix of the investor presentation. Now I will turn the call over to Brad Hanson.

Thank you for joining Meta Financial Group's second fiscal quarter 2021 earnings call. Meta Bank once again had good results in the second quarter with net income up 13% to $59 million and earnings per share up 27% to $1.84 per share compared to the same quarter last year. During the quarter, we were able to further our mission of financial inclusion by serving as a financial agent for the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Bureau of the Fiscal Service as the issuer of prepaid debit cards to consumers for economic impact payments, or EIP. In total, we have distributed $24.2 billion in stimulus funds since this program was initiated in April of 2020. This work is core to our mission, and we are honored to be able to serve as an efficient means of distributing these funds to millions of our fellow citizens. We are also pleased for the opportunity to act as an originator for Paycheck Protection Program, or PPP loans, where we helped save over 18,000 jobs and assisted nearly 700 businesses. Our PPP loans through rounds one and two totaled over $300 million on behalf of businesses in 38 states. The connection to our mission is clear, and more than 31% of the businesses helped were in Community Development Financial Institution, or CDFI, zones. Tax product revenue was up 17% in the quarter over last year, but came in below our expectations. Refund advance originations were $1.8 billion this year, compared to $1.3 billion in the 2020 tax season. We believe overall demand for refund advance loans was tempered by the excess consumer liquidity created by federal stimulus payments that coincided with this tax season. We are seeing higher than normal late season refund transfer demand this year, which should result in some volume moving to our fiscal third quarter. We believe this is a result of the delayed start to the 2021 tax season and the extension of the filing deadline to May 17th. We expect overall tax season refund transfer volumes and associated fee income to be similar to last year. We continue to develop our ESG diversity and inclusion efforts during the quarter, and we are pleased to announce the hiring of Kia Tang as our Chief People and Inclusion Officer. A key part of Kia's role is to ensure that diversity and inclusion become more than just a sound bite. Our goal is for D&I to become part of who we are as a company, weaving it into the very fabric of our culture, programs, and solutions. The combination of KIA's skill set and the expanded role of Chief People and Inclusion Officer marks an important point in MetaBank's history and the execution of our mission to support financial inclusion for all. On the ESG front, we have completed a materiality analysis that will inform our ESG metrics and goals. And under the leadership of our Board of Directors ESG Committee, established in January, We are well positioned to continue advancing ESG efforts at META. I am pleased with the significant progress we have made and excited to see us reach the milestone of publishing our first ESG report during the third fiscal quarter of 2021. Now let me turn the call over to Brett to provide some updates on our other lines of businesses and Glenn will follow with some more specific information on our financial results. Thanks, Brad.