The Bancorp, Inc.

Following the presentation, we will conduct a question and answer session. If at any time during this call you require immediate assistance, please press star zero for the operator. This call is being recorded today, Friday, July the 28th, 2023. I would now like to turn the conference over to Andres Viroslav. Please go ahead, sir.

Thank you, operator. Good morning, and thank you for joining us today for the Bancorp's second quarter 2023 financial results conference call. On the call with me today are Damian Kozlowski, Chief Executive Officer, and Paul Frankel, our Chief Financial Officer. This morning's call is being webcast on our website at www.thebancorp.com. There will be a replay of the call available via webcast on our website beginning at approximately 12 p.m. Eastern time today. The dialing for the replay is 1-877-674- 7070 with a confirmation code of 720317. Before I turn the call over to Damien, I would like to remind everyone that when using this conference call, the words believes, anticipates, expects, and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results, performance, or achievements to differ materially from those anticipated or suggested by such statements. For further discussion of these risks and uncertainties, please see the Bancorp's filings with the SEC. Listeners are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. The Bancorp undertakes no obligation to publicly release the results of any revisions to forward-looking statements, which may be made to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. Now I'd like to turn the call over to the Bancorp's Chief Executive Officer, Damian Kozlowski. Damian?

Thank you, Andres. Good morning, everyone. The Bancorp made $0.89 a share, 41% revenue growth and 17% expense growth. ROE was 27% and ROA was 2.6%. Core loan growth quarter-over-quarter reflected a reduction of 8% in institutional lending and respective increases of 2% and 4% for small business, commercial and real estate bridge lending businesses, which also show 10% and 65% growth year-over-year respectively. NIM increased to 483 from 467 quarter-over-quarter and 317 year-over-year. Gross dollar volume growth in our fintech solutions payments business was 15%. Continued strong growth across verticals with only general purpose reloadable showing a decline. New corporate payment programs continue to show growth significantly above expectations. The Bancorp continues to be well-positioned in the current environment. Our balance sheet flexibility, lower credit risk, and High level of core insured deposits support continued improvements in profitability, regardless of potential dislocations or weakening economic conditions. While the sharp increase in the Fed funds rate affected our growth in loans, this impact was mostly felt in our institutional business, which is comprised of our S-block and I-block variable rate consumer loans. Long-term historical growth trends seem to be normalizing, and pipelines across our businesses are increasing. Our fintech solutions business continues to show strength, supported by current programs, the addition of new products, and the implementation of new partners. Due to significant implementation times that can last 18 to 24 months, we have good visibility on the potential growth in 2024. Our current estimate is that we will have above-trend GDV growth in 2024 of more than 15%. Key areas of growth are neobanks, healthcare, and new corporate payment programs. In addition, we continue to strengthen our relationships with our key members of our ecosystem and recently signed a long-term extension and expansion of our partnership with Chime. We continue to invest a lot of time and energy across our company in the development of new products and services, especially expansion of fee businesses and the monetization of our core capabilities. As we approach the REG-II Durbin Amendment restriction on our balance sheet size of $10 billion, we believe we can successfully grow the business without needing additional balance sheet above that limit. Lastly, with continued strong business momentum and a favorable balance sheet position, we're confirming our 23 guidance of 360 a share without the impact of anticipated stock buybacks of approximately $25 million per quarter. In the third quarter earnings release, we will give both preliminary guidance for 2024 and indications of our buybacks for next year. And now, turn the call over to Paul Frankel, our CFO, for more color on the second quarter.