Pathward Financial Inc (CASH) 2026 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by, and welcome to Pathward Financial's first quarter fiscal year 2026 investor conference call. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this conference call is being recorded.

女士們、先生們，感謝您的耐心等待，歡迎參加Pathward Financial 2026財年第一季投資者電話會議。 （操作說明）提醒您，本次電話會議正在錄音。

I would now like to turn the conference call over to Darby Schoenfeld, Senior Vice President, Chief of Staff, and Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

現在我將電話會議交給資深副總裁、幕僚長兼投資人關係負責人達比‧舍恩菲爾德。請開始吧。

Thank you, operator, and welcome. With me today are Pathward Financial's CEO, Brett Pharr; and CFO, Gregory Sigrist, who will discuss our operating and financial results for the first quarter of fiscal year 2026, after which, we will take your questions.

謝謝接線員，歡迎各位。今天與我一同出席的有Pathward Financial的執行長Brett Pharr和財務長Gregory Sigrist，他們將介紹我們2026財年第一季的營運和財務業績，之後我們將回答各位的問題。

Additional information, including the earnings release, the investor presentation that accompanies our prepared remarks, and supplemental slides may be found on our website at pathwardfinancial.com.

更多信息，包括收益報告、隨附我們準備的發言稿的投資者演示文稿以及補充幻燈片，可在我們的網站 pathwardfinancial.com 上找到。

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 statements. Please refer to the cautionary language in the earnings release, investor presentation and in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our most recent filings for additional information covering factors that could cause actual and anticipated results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements.

再次提醒，我們的評論可能包含前瞻性陳述。這些陳述受風險和不確定性因素的影響，可能導致實際結果與預期結果有差異。本公司不承擔更新任何前瞻性陳述的義務。請參閱盈利報告、投資者演示文稿以及本公司向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件（包括我們最新的文件）中的警示性語言，以獲取更多信息，了解可能導致實際結果與預期結果和前瞻性陳述存在重大差異的因素。

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 the company's results and performance trends, particularly in competitive analysis. Reconciliations for such non-GAAP measures are included in the earnings release and the appendix of the investor presentation.

此外，今天我們將在電話會議上討論一些非公認會計準則（非GAAP）財務指標。提及非GAAP指標僅是為了幫助您了解公司的績效和表現趨勢，尤其是在競爭分析方面。這些非GAAP指標的調節表已包含在獲利報告和投資者簡報的附錄中。

Finally, all time periods referenced are fiscal quarters and fiscal years, and all comparisons are to the prior year period unless otherwise noted.

最後，除非另有說明，所有提及的時間段均為財政季度和財政年度，所有比較均與上一年同期進行比較。

Now let me turn the call over to Brett Pharr, our CEO.

現在我把電話交給我們的執行長布雷特法爾。

Thanks, Darby, and welcome, everyone, to our earnings conference call. We kicked off the year in a position of strength. And overall, we are pleased with the financial results the team achieved in the quarter. I want to take a moment to talk about what we do, how we do it, and why we believe Pathward is uniquely positioned as a leader in this space.

謝謝達比，也歡迎各位參加我們的財報電話會議。今年年初我們開局強勁。總的來說，我們對團隊本季取得的財務表現感到滿意。我想花點時間談談我們的業務內容、業務模式，以及我們為何認為Pathward在這個領域擁有獨特的領導地位。

Whether you are an investor, analyst or another member of the financial community, you likely have an understanding of how a traditional bank works. Banks take deposits from individuals or corporations, lend those deposits and move money. In this, Pathward is no different. Where we differ is how we do those things.

無論您是投資者、分析師還是金融界的其他人士，您可能都對傳統銀行的運作方式有所了解。銀行吸收個人或企業的存款，將這些存款貸出，並進行資金轉移。 Pathward 的運作方式也與此相似。我們的獨特之處在於我們開展這些業務的方式。

First of all, we move money. Where we differ is we work with partners and facilitate payments through issuing sponsorship, merchant acquiring sponsorship, independent ATM sponsorship, consumer credit sponsorship, and digital payments, assisting them with the moving of significant amounts of money relative to our size across the nation.

首先，我們從事資金轉移業務。我們的獨特之處在於，我們與合作夥伴攜手，透過發行贊助、商家收單贊助、獨立ATM贊助、消費信貸贊助和數位支付等方式促進支付，幫助他們在全國範圍內轉移相對於我們自身規模而言數額巨大的資金。

In issuing sponsorship, we move money and facilitate payments via products such as prepaid cards, gift cards, loyalty cards, payroll cards, and general purpose reloadable cards. With over 20 years of experience in payment facilitation, Pathward's value proposition is anchored in four principal pillars: our leadership is seasoned and has deep expertise in payments and sponsorship; second, our combination of people, processes, and operating structure delivers a streamline approach to banking and provides reliable and sustainable partner programs; third, we deliver partnership with a commitment that enables our partner success; and lastly, a consultative governance approach rooted in our stable risk and compliance infrastructure that helps partners manage a regulatory framework that is also complex and difficult to manage.

在發行贊助卡方面，我們透過預付卡、禮品卡、會員卡、薪資卡和通用充值卡等產品進行資金轉移和支付。 Pathward 在支付領域擁有超過 20年的經驗，其價值主張基於四大支柱：首先，我們經驗豐富的領導團隊在支付和讚助領域擁有深厚的專業知識；其次，我們的人員、流程和運營架構相結合，提供精簡高效的銀行服務，並提供可靠且可持續的合作夥伴計劃；第三，我們致力於與合作夥伴建立夥伴關係，助力其取得成功；最後，我們採用合作夥伴關係的合規性諮詢

Second, we hold deposits. Where we differ is that generally, our issuing partnerships provide Pathward with stable deposits. As one of the most mature and experienced sponsored banks, we work with our partners to help them grow in scale and co-create solutions that facilitate innovation.

其次，我們持有存款。我們的獨特之處在於，通常情況下，我們的發卡機構合作夥伴會為Pathward提供穩定的存款。作為最成熟、經驗最豐富的贊助銀行之一，我們與合作夥伴攜手合作，幫助他們擴大規模，並共同打造促進創新的解決方案。

Because of our differences, we are able to generate significant fee income. This leads us to lending. Like other banks, we lend our deposits. However, we specialize in working with businesses that for a multitude of reasons, may not be able to work with or borrow from a traditional bank. We provide lending products that help these businesses access funds they need to launch, operate, and grow. In some cases, we are also working through partners to originate commercial finance loans.

由於我們與眾不同，我們能夠獲得可觀的手續費收入。這促使我們開展貸款業務。與其他銀行一樣，我們利用存款進行放款。然而，我們專注於服務那些因各種原因可能無法與傳統銀行合作或獲得貸款的企業。我們提供的貸款產品能夠幫助這些企業獲得啟動、營運和發展所需的資金。在某些情況下，我們也會透過合作夥伴發放商業融資貸款。

Pathward strengths help us deliver on our purpose of financial inclusion. Our partnerships offer financial solutions that help individuals and businesses who are underserved, underrepresented or even unbanked. Additionally, as our world grows increasingly dependent and relied upon digital-first or digital-only solutions, Pathward's role in fulfilling the needs of these individuals and companies, both expand and increases.

Pathward 的優勢協助我們實現普惠金融的目標。我們的合作關係為那些服務不足、代表性不足甚至沒有銀行帳戶的個人和企業提供金融解決方案。此外，隨著世界對數位化優先或純數位化解決方案的依賴程度日益加深，Pathward 在滿足這些個人和企業需求方面的作用也不斷擴大和增強。

While at a high level, we operate the same as the traditional bank. We believe it is our unique value propositions, partnerships, and position in the marketplace that allows us to help a greater variety of consumers and businesses as well as generate results that we believe exceed those of a traditional bank. This is characterized by a disciplined balance sheet optimization and fee income working together to generate positive performance.

從宏觀層面來看，我們的營運方式與傳統銀行並無二致。但我們相信，正是我們獨特的價值主張、合作夥伴關係以及市場地位，使我們能夠服務更多類型的消費者和企業，並取得超越傳統銀行的業績。這體現在我們嚴謹的資產負債表優化和手續費收入的協同運作，從而實現積極的業績表現。

Last year, our return on average assets was over 2%. Our return on average tangible equity was over 38%, and roughly 40% of our revenue came from non-interest income. Our business model optimizes our long-term strategy, being the trusted platform that enables our partners to thrive.

去年，我們的平均資產報酬率超過2%，平均有形權益報酬率超過38%，約40%的收入來自非利息收入。我們的商業模式優化了長期策略，成為值得信賴的平台，幫助合作夥伴蓬勃發展。

Our 2026 goals are off to a great start. As part of our commitment to the client experience, we announced the rollout of an evolved operating model last month. We firmly believe this model better aligns with our partners by supporting their growth and scalability and creating a more seamless experience. Each of the respective leaders have strong, relevant industry background and a solid commitment to Pathward's culture. We believe this decision ultimately positions our clients for greater success and revenue enablement and the company for increased innovation and growth.

我們的2026年目標已取得良好開端。作為我們致力於提升客戶體驗的一部分，我們上個月宣布推出全新營運模式。我們堅信，這模式能夠更好地支持合作夥伴的成長和規模化發展，並創造更流暢的體驗，從而更好地契合我們的需求。每位負責人均擁有深厚的產業背景，並對Pathward的企業文化有著堅定的認同。我們相信，這項決策最終將助力客戶取得更大的成功，提升收入，並推動公司實現更大的創新和成長。

Building upon the progress we've made over the last few years, we believe revenue growth will come from three main areas during the fiscal year. It's important to note that we have prioritized areas that are not dependent on growing our balance sheet in order to grow revenue. First, we have additional capacity to optimize the balance sheet through the continued rotation from securities to loans, increasing net interest income without growing the overall asset size.

基於過去幾年所取得的進展，我們相信本財年的營收成長將主要來自三個面向。值得注意的是，我們優先考慮的領域並不依賴資產負債表的擴張來增加收入。首先，我們有能力透過持續將證券投資轉向貸款投資來優化資產負債表，從而在不增加整體資產規模的情況下提高淨利息收入。

As we continue to optimize, we are also looking at the yields of each asset, and we intend to continue to favor areas where we believe we have a competitive advantage to deliver a higher risk-adjusted return or optionality. This leads to the second area of revenue growth, fee income from balance sheet velocity. Our business model supports the ability to originate and sell loans, thereby generating additional revenue. By utilizing velocity for both commercial and consumer loans, our balance sheet can remain steady while generating both interest income and non-interest income for the business.

隨著我們不斷優化，我們也關注每項資產的收益率，並計劃繼續優先投資那些我們認為具有競爭優勢、能夠提供更高風險調整後收益或更多選擇權的領域。這引出了第二個收入成長點：資產負債表週轉速度所帶來的手續費收入。我們的商業模式支持貸款的發放和銷售，從而創造額外收入。透過提高商業貸款和消費貸款的周轉速度，我們的資產負債表可以保持穩定，同時為公司創造利息收入和非利息收入。

Finally, in 2025, we announced multiple contracts for products such as merchant acquiring sponsorship, which has little impact to the balance sheet that generates non-interest income. Money movement, specifically issuing sponsorship, was how Pathward entered into sponsored banking and is still the core of our business. But with our partner searching for a bank that can provide multiple products outside of issuing, offering multi-thread solutions across a breadth of banking needs is an important differentiator.

最後，在2025年，我們宣布了多項產品合約，例如商家收單贊助，這些合約對產生非利息收入的資產負債表影響甚微。資金流動，特別是發卡贊助，是Pathward進入贊助銀行業務領域的切入點，至今仍是我們業務的核心。但由於我們的合作夥伴正在尋找一家能夠提供發卡以外多種產品的銀行，因此，提供涵蓋廣泛銀行業務需求的多執行緒解決方案成為一項重要的差異化優勢。

Finally, tax season has begun, and we are one step ahead with over 11% more enrolled tax offices than at this point last year.

報稅季終於開始了，我們領先一步，註冊的稅務辦事處數量比去年同期增加了 11% 以上。

We do look forward to a number of possible benefits. First has to do with the change in tax code for 2025. We believe this change has the potential to drive more consumers into the tax preparation offices that we serve. Second, we exited last year's season with renewed agreements across all of our tax software partners. And finally, we continue to make technology improvements throughout the year for greater efficiencies when compared to years past and look forward to reaping those benefits in 2026.

我們期待著許多潛在益處。首先是2025年稅法的變更。我們相信，這項變更有望吸引更多消費者光顧我們服務的稅務代理商。其次，去年年底，我們與所有稅務軟體合作夥伴續簽了協議。最後，我們全年持續進行技術改進，以提高效率，並期待在2026年收穫這些成果。

As an industry leader in tax-related financial products, we pride ourselves in offering one of the most comprehensive product mixes in the tax industry, including products and services like refund transfers, refund advances, ERO loans, and facilitating refunds on prepaid cards. We feel confident that we will be able to deliver on our goals and look forward to providing a more robust tax update next quarter.

身為稅務相關金融產品領域的產業領導者，我們引以為傲的是，我們提供業內最全面的產品組合之一，包括退稅轉帳、退稅預支、ERO貸款以及預付卡退稅等產品和服務。我們有信心實現既定目標，並期待在下個季度發布更詳盡的稅務更新報告。

Now I'd like to turn it over to Greg, who will take you through the financials.

現在我把麥克風交給格雷格，他將為大家解釋財務狀況。

Thank you, Brett. We were pleased with our results in the quarter, which were marked by solid growth in our core business, growing interest income and commercial finance with a lower provision, increasing core card and deposit fee income, and flat expenses.

謝謝你，布雷特。我們對本季的業績感到滿意，核心業務實現了穩健成長，利息收入和商業融資成長，撥備降低，核心信用卡和存款手續費收入增加，支出保持不變。

Let me start with the sale of the consumer finance portfolio we mentioned on last quarter's call, which had an impact on several income statement line items, including an $11.9 million reduction to net interest income. This amount is largely offset by reduced provision and lower other expenses. So while optically, it appears that these income statement line items are lower year over year, the net impact is quite muted. Similarly, net interest margin has been reduced by this gross-up amount, while the offsetting line items were in areas that do not impact NIM.

首先，我想談談我們在上個季度電話會議上提到的消費金融投資組合的出售。此次出售對損益表的多個項目產生了影響，其中包括淨利息收入減少了1,190萬美元。不過，這部分減少主要被撥備減少和其他費用降低所抵銷。因此，雖然表面上看來這些損益表項目較去年同期有所下降，但實際影響卻相當有限。同樣，淨利差也因這筆增加的金額而減少，但抵消這部分減少的項目並不影響淨利差。

Within net interest income, contribution from commercial finance increased $9.2 million in the quarter due to higher balances and slightly higher yields given our continued focus on optimization. Provision for credit losses was lower than last year, in part due to a recovery from a commercial finance loan that moved into non-performing during the first quarter of last year. Given our approach to collateral management and monitoring, we are often able to work out or resolved loans that have moved into non-performing status, recovering most, if not all, of the funds. It may take us a few quarters, but this is why we focus more on annualized net charge-offs than non-performing loan volumes.

在淨利息收入方面，由於餘額增加以及我們持續專注於優化運營，商業融資業務的貢獻在本季度增加了920萬美元。信用損失準備金低於去年同期，部分原因是收回了去年第一季轉為不良的商業融資貸款。鑑於我們採取的抵押品管理和監控措施，我們通常能夠協商解決已轉為不良狀態的貸款，收回大部分甚至全部資金。這可能需要幾個季度的時間，因此我們更關注年度淨核銷額，而不是不良貸款額。

I'll highlight this because, as we have mentioned previously, this is the nature of our business and an example of why we are comfortable with our credit trends. We reported solid results and non-interest income, particularly in core card and deposit fees. If you remove the impact of servicing fees on custodial deposits, which decreased as expected by about $1 million, we saw good growth in that line. This reflects some of the new partners we announced in fiscal 2025 beginning to show up in our revenue numbers.

我之所以要重點強調這一點，是因為正如我們之前提到的，這正是我們業務的本質，也是我們對信貸趨勢感到滿意的原因之一。我們公佈了穩健的業績和非利息收入，尤其是在核心信用卡和存款手續費方面。如果剔除託管存款服務費的影響（該收入如預期減少了約100萬美元），我們看到該業務實現了良好的成長。這反映出我們在2025財年宣布的一些新合作夥伴的表現已開始體現在我們的收入數據中。

Due to the government shutdown, we fell just shy of our goal range for secondary market revenues, but we believe this is just a timing impact and we expect to make that up in subsequent quarters.

由於政府停擺，我們的二級市場收入未能達到目標範圍，但我們認為這只是時間上的影響，我們預計在接下來的幾季中會彌補這一損失。

Finally, we saw a decrease in rental income due to lower balances and operating leases. However, this is largely offset in non-interest expenses in the form of lower operating lease equipment depreciation. Non-interest expenses were well managed during the quarter, coming in slightly better when compared to last year. We saw lower rate-related card processing fees, primarily due to a lower rate environment. This led to net income of $35.2 million and earnings per diluted share of $1.57, showing significant increases of 17% and 28%, respectively, when compared to last year.

最後，由於餘額和經營租賃減少，我們看到租金收入下降。然而，經營租賃設備折舊減少等非利息支出在很大程度上抵消了這一影響。本季非利息支出控制良好，略優於去年同期。由於利率環境走低，我們看到與利率相關的信用卡處理費下降。這使得淨利潤達到3520萬美元，稀釋後每股收益為1.57美元，與去年同期相比分別顯著增長17%和28%。

In addition, annualized performance metrics were also strong for the first quarter. Keeping in mind our normal seasonality with return on average assets of 1.87% and a return on average tangible equity of 26.7%, compared to 1.61% and 25.5%, respectively, during the same quarter last year.

此外，第一季的年度化業績指標也表現強勁。考慮到正常的季節性因素，平均資產回報率為1.87%，平均有形權益回報率為26.7%，而去年同期分別為1.61%和25.5%。

Deposits held on the company's balance sheet at December 31 totaled $6.4 billion, which is a $170 million decrease versus a year ago. This was primarily driven by having $200 million more in custodial deposits at the end of the first quarter when compared to last year.

截至12月31日，公司資產負債表上的存款總額為64億美元，較上年同期減少1.7億美元。這主要是由於第一季末託管存款較上年同期增加2億美元。

Average deposits on the company's balance sheet during the quarter were around $90 million higher than last year's quarter. Average custodial deposits during the quarter decreased slightly when compared to last year.

本季公司資產負債表上的平均存款額比去年同期高出約9,000萬美元。本季平均託管存款額與去年同期相比略有下降。

During the quarter, we saw favorable deposit balances at multiple partners due to a strong holiday season and continued partner growth. Loans and leases at December 31 were $5 billion, compared to $4.6 billion last year. The primary driver of the increase was $531 million increase in commercial finance loans, partially offset by a $148 million decrease in consumer finance loans.

本季度，由於假期季節的強勁銷售和合作夥伴業務的持續成長，我們看到多家合作夥伴的存款餘額均有所改善。截至12月31日，貸款和租賃總額為50億美元，去年同期為46億美元。成長的主要原因是商業金融貸款增加了5.31億美元，但部分被消費金融貸款減少了1.48億美元所抵銷。

Additionally, during the quarter, we originated $1.9 billion in loans, with $678 million in commercial finance and $1.2 billion in consumer finance.

此外，本季我們發放了 19 億美元的貸款，其中商業貸款 6.78 億美元，消費貸款 12 億美元。

We are quite pleased by the growth in consumer originations, which was driven in part by the new contract we announced last year. This loan production is the engine behind our balance sheet optimization strategy, which includes balance sheet velocity. Our non-performing loans ticked up slightly when compared to last quarter.

我們對消費貸款發放量的成長感到非常滿意，這部分得益於我們去年宣布的新合約。貸款發放是我們資產負債表優化策略（包括資產負債表週轉速度）的驅動力。與上季相比，我們的不良貸款略有上升。

We continue to monitor loans we discussed on the prior-quarter earnings call. As we indicated then, these loans are in different verticals and we do not believe represent a systemic portfolio issue. We continue to believe that there is a path forward to resolving these loans in due course over the next several quarters.

我們持續關注上一季財報電話會議上討論過的貸款。正如我們當時所述，這些貸款涉及不同的行業領域，我們認為它們並不構成系統性投資組合問題。我們仍然相信，在未來幾季內，這些貸款問題能夠妥善解決。

To reiterate an additional point we made last quarter, when you compare our historic NPLs to NCOs, we do not believe there's a correlation between them. As I mentioned earlier, because we take a collateralized approach to underwriting and credit management, we generally focus on our annualized net charge-offs since we have risk mitigation techniques designed to address past due and non-performing loans built into our lending process.

重申我們上季提出的觀點，當我們比較歷史不良貸款率（NPL）和淨沖銷額（NCO）時，我們認為兩者之間不存在相關性。正如我之前提到的，由於我們採用抵押擔保的方式進行承銷和信貸管理，我們通常關注年度淨沖銷額，因為我們的貸款流程中已包含旨在解決逾期和不良貸款的風險緩解措施。

This quarter is a good example of what we are describing. Our total NCOs as a percentage of average loans when excluding tax services loans, was 2 bps on an annualized basis.

本季就是一個很好的例子，印證了我們所描述的情況。剔除稅務服務貸款後，我們的淨營業額佔平均貸款額的比例為年化2個基點。

In commercial finance, our net charge-offs were actually a net recovery for the quarter, and our trailing 12-month net charge-offs are at 39 basis points. Our allowance for credit loss ratio in commercial finance was 116 basis points in the quarter, a slight improvement when compared to 118 basis points for the same quarter last year. Our liquidity remains strong with $3.7 billion available, and we're extremely pleased with our position at this point in the year.

在商業金融領域，本季我們的淨核銷額實際上實現了淨回收，過去12個月的淨核銷額為39個基點。本季商業金融領域的信用損失準備率為116個基點，較去年同期的118個基點略有改善。我們目前擁有37億美元的可用資金，流動性仍然強勁，我們對年初至今的財務狀況感到非常滿意。

During the quarter, we repurchased approximately 652,000 shares at an average price of $72.07. This leaves 4.3 million shares still available for repurchase under the current stock repurchase program.

本季度，我們以平均每股 72.07 美元的價格回購了約 652,000 股股票。根據目前的股票回購計劃，仍有 430 萬股股票可供回購。

We are increasing our fiscal year 2026 guidance to an EPS range of $8.55 to $9.05, which includes the following assumptions: no additional rate cuts during the year, an effective tax rate of 18% to 22%, and expected share repurchases.

我們將 2026 財年的每股盈餘預期提高至 8.55 美元至 9.05 美元，其中包括以下假設：年內不再降息，有效稅率為 18% 至 22%，以及預期的股票回購。

This concludes our prepared remarks. Operator, please open the line for questions.

我們的發言到此結束。接線員，請接通線路接受提問。

(Operator Instructions) Tim Switzer, KBW.

（操作說明）Tim Switzer，KBW。

The first one I have is on the NIM trajectory. A lot of moving parts this quarter, which makes sense. And I think you guys did a good job of laying it out.

我首先要說的是NIM的發展軌跡。這季度有很多變動因素，這很正常。我覺得你們解釋得很好。

But if we think about the adjusted NIM, what is the right way to think about the jumping off point for Q2? And then how do we think about the trajectory over the course of the year within your guide assuming no rate cuts?

但如果我們考慮調整後的淨利差，那麼第二季的起點該如何決定？假設不降息，我們又該如何根據您的指引來判斷全年的發展軌跡？

Yeah. Let me give you a couple of data points first, Tim, that might help frame the conversation. I think what's given it a bit harder to look at this quarter is obviously, the gross uptick we've had on the consumer loans, which are part of that calc, even though they offset someplace else. So if you strip out all of the impact of the net interest income related to the gross HFI consumer loans, you would have had an adjusted NIM of 5.11% a year ago. Last quarter would have been 5.31%, and this quarter would have been 5.49%.

是的。提姆，我先提供你幾個數據點，或許有助於我們更能理解。我認為本季業績分析比較困難的原因很明顯，就是消費貸款總額的大幅成長，雖然這部分成長在其他方面有所抵消，但仍計入了淨利差。所以，如果剔除與HFI消費貸款總額相關的淨利息收入的影響，那麼去年同期的調整後淨利差為5.11%。上個季度是5.31%，而本季是5.49%。

So you can tell, both linked quarter and prior year where the trajectory has been up. As it relates to just interest rate sensitivity in the portfolio, though, the story remains the same, candidly. Every incremental 25 basis point overnight rate cut continues to have a very de minimis impact on us.

因此，無論從上一季或去年同期來看，都可以看出成長趨勢。但坦白說，就投資組合的利率敏感度而言，情況依然如此。每次隔夜降息25個基點，對我們的影響都微乎其微。

We are still very sensitive to the middle part of the curve, which means that with the steepening we've seen over the last four to six weeks and just where the outlook is, the forward curve is on the middle part of the curve. I think that 5.31% is the launch point for the second quarter. And again, as long as the macroeconomic environment stays muted and middle part of the curve is elevated, we still have some tailwinds. So I think we're flat to up from that point.

我們仍然非常關注曲線的中段部分，這意味著，鑑於過去四到六週以來曲線的陡峭化以及當前的經濟前景，遠期曲線目前位於曲線的中段。我認為5.31%是第二季的起點。而且，只要宏觀經濟環境保持溫和，曲線中段保持在高位，我們仍然會有一些利多因素。所以我認為，從這一點開始，經濟走勢將趨於平穩或略有上升。

And I appreciate all the color you provided on the credit outlook and the charge-offs. Are you able to quantify what that recovery was that you recorded this quarter within those net charge-offs?

我非常感謝您提供的關於信貸前景和壞帳核銷的詳細資訊。您能否量化本季在這些淨壞帳核銷中記錄的回收金額？

No, I think you'll see the chart in the earnings release. It just has more of the aggregate number. So it's within that roll forward on the ACL, Tim.

不，我想你會在財報中看到圖表。它只是包含了更多匯總數據。所以它包含在ACL的滾動更新範圍內，蒂姆。

And then another question I had, maybe a little more philosophical. But there's been a lot of discussion lately about fintechs wanting to obtain their own bank charters. I think there is a few more -- or not fintech, but a few ILCs announced earlier today. And most of the discussions about [the] world has been, how it could be a threat with partners no longer needing a bank sponsor.

我還有個問題，可能更偏向哲學層面。最近關於金融科技公司想要獲得獨立銀行牌照的討論很多。我想今天早些時候又有幾家——或者說不是金融科技公司，而是幾家獨立貸款公司——宣布成立。而目前關於這方面的討論大多集中在，合作夥伴不再需要銀行擔保，這可能會構成怎樣的威脅。

So could you respond to that? And could you also maybe outline how there might be some opportunities here, if any?

您能否對此作出回應？能否也簡要概述一下，這裡可能存在哪些機會？

Yes. So this is Brett. So I think the way you think about this is, yeah, we're in a clearly a more relaxed regulatory environment as it relates to getting these charters on. It takes a lot of time to build the scale, to be able to do the kinds of things that we do, even if you've got a lot of dollars behind you. And so yeah, there will be some of the happening.

是的。這位是布雷特。我認為你對這件事的看法是，是的，就獲得這些特許經營權而言，我們目前所處的監管環境顯然更加寬鬆。即便你擁有雄厚的資金支持，要達到我們所做的規模，也需要很長時間。所以，是的，這方面肯定會有一些變化。

But I think sort of the history longer term has been people that have bought bank charters have often given them back because they realized what they had. Now that's not going to happen under current administration, but it will happen under other administrations as we look forward. We have some partners that have gotten those and then came to us and did additional transactions with us and talked about more because there's very narrow things they can do within those charters, and we can do a whole lot more.

但我認為，從長遠來看，購買了銀行牌照的人往往會將其退還，因為他們意識到自己擁有的牌照的價值。在現任政府的領導下，這種情況不會發生，但展望未來，在其他政府的領導下，這種情況將會發生。我們的一些合作夥伴已經獲得了這些牌照，然後與我們合作開展了更多交易，並探討了更多合作事宜，因為這些牌照能做的事情非常有限，而我們能做的事情要多得多。

Don't forget, we have a multi-threaded approach with our partners, and that is to offer many different kinds of products. And some of these charters are not really going to allow that to happen. So, A, not seeing it; B, I think it's going to be a long time before it creates any competitive pressure. And I also think these things go in cycles. And so just think about it through the cycle is the way we should think about this kind of competition.

別忘了，我們與合作夥伴採取的是多執行緒策略，旨在提供多種不同類型的產品。而有些章程其實並不允許我們這麼做。所以，首先，我目前看不到這種趨勢；其次，我認為它需要很長時間才能產生任何競爭壓力。而且，我認為這類事情都是週期性的。因此，我們應該從週期的角度來思考這類競爭。

And sort of related to this, some of the fintechs going to obtain more often the custody charter are stablecoin or other digital asset companies. And Brett, you gave a great overview of the business earlier and you talked about some of the opportunities. But I don't think you mentioned digital assets at all.

與此相關的是，一些金融科技公司，尤其是穩定幣或其他數位資產公司，更有可能獲得託管牌照。布雷特，你之前對這個行業做了很好的概述，也談到了一些機會。但我認為你完全沒有提到數位資產。

Is that an area you guys want to play in? What kind of role do you think part Pathward can play?

這是你們想涉足的領域嗎？你們認為Pathward可以扮演什麼樣的角色？

Yeah. So there's all kinds of things that we can do. We're already doing some things in the crypto space in terms of onboarding and offboarding the fiat currency, et cetera. To be clear, we don't hold any of those digital assets today. But we're looking at all those things.

是的。所以我們可以做很多事。我們已經在加密貨幣領域進行一些工作，例如法幣的接入和提取等等。需要說明的是，我們目前沒有持有任何數位資產。但我們正在關注所有這些方面。

And my sort of personal view is that this is first a B2B use case and there's a lot of cool things there. And we're talking to partners and other material players about ways we can play in that space. My view right now is it will be an additional rail among many rails and we'll continue to work on that. And as our partners pull forward and as use cases come forward, we'll engage in it because it's definitely part of the future.

我個人認為，這首先是一個B2B應用案例，其中蘊藏著許多令人興奮的潛力。我們正在與合作夥伴和其他相關方探討如何在這個領域發揮作用。目前，我認為它將成為眾多管道中的一條，我們將繼續努力。隨著合作夥伴的推進和應用案例的湧現，我們將積極參與其中，因為這無疑是未來發展的一部分。

Joe Yanchunis, Raymond James.

Joe Yanchunis，Raymond James。

So in your prepared remarks, you talked about a lot of the new partner announcements in 2025, and it looks like they're really just started to impact the P&L. I was wondering if you could unpack the amount of kind of embedded growth from this cohort of partners that hasn't yet shown up in your financials.

您在事先準備好的發言稿中提到了2025年新增的眾多合作夥伴，而這些合作夥伴的影響似乎才剛開始顯現。我想請您詳細分析一下，這群合作夥伴帶來的、尚未反映在財務報表中的隱性成長有多少。

Yeah. I mean, I'd be happy to. As you recall from last quarter, I mean, these kind of span the gamut from merchant acquiring, might have been an issuing deal or two in there, and one up in the credit solution space. And each of those has a different path to time to revenue. And we're obviously onboarding all the entire cohort as rapidly as we can.

是的，我很樂意。您可能還記得上個季度的情況，這些業務涵蓋了商家收單、發卡業務（可能包括一兩筆）以及一項信用解決方案。每項業務的獲利週期都不一樣。我們顯然正在盡最大努力盡快完成所有客戶的進駐流程。

And then each of those programs need to build, right? But once each of those programs is launched and live, I would expect contribution to a full 12-month run rate on the card fee line to be somewhere in the middle to high single digits, and that's just based on those programs. And I think as we talked about last quarter, we are still actively working on multi-threaded approaches with many of those that we've announced, too. So that cohort alone, again, mid- to high single digits, and we're seeing how we can scale from there.

然後，每個專案都需要逐步推進，對吧？但一旦每個專案啟動並上線運行，我預計它們對信用卡手續費收入12個月全年增長率的貢獻將在個位數中高段位，這僅僅是基於這些項目而言。而且，正如我們在上個季度討論的那樣，我們仍在積極探索多線程方案，其中也包括我們已宣布的許多項目。因此，光是這部分項目，貢獻率就能達到個位數中高段位，我們正在研究如何在此基礎上擴大規模。

Yeah. Joe, this is Brett. I mean, we're getting very enthusiastic about the pull-through on these partners and others were talking both existing and future. We went through a period of time where there was some crazy pricing and structures in this particular industry and we chose to abstain. But that's long been washed out, and these things are picking up.

是的，喬，我是布雷特。我的意思是，我們對這些合作夥伴的積極性感到非常興奮，其他人也在談論現有和未來的合作。之前有一段時間，這個行業的定價和結構非常混亂，所以我們選擇了觀望。但那段時間已經過去了，現在一切都在好轉。

And we've often said to you, it takes a little time for the programs to build. This quarter, you're seeing it. There's a reason we're saying what we're saying about guidance. We're seeing it happen. And we'll continue to think about that through the rest of the year as we go on. This is an upbeat time for us, and that's why we're thinking about these partners and others who are talking about.

我們經常跟你說，專案需要一些時間來發展。本季，你們已經看到了成效。我們之所以這樣說，是因為我們看到了成效正在顯現。在接下來的時間裡，我們也會繼續關注這個問題。目前對我們來說是一個充滿希望的時期，這也是為什麼我們會考慮這些合作夥伴以及其他相關人士。

Perfect. And I'm going to get to your updated guidance in a moment. I just kind of wanted to pick up something you just said there. So you just talked about the washout of the irrational pricing and you're starting to see some normalization from partners. What does your current partner pipeline look like today?

好的。我稍後會談到您更新的指導意見。我只是想補充您剛才提到的一點。您剛才提到非理性定價的逐漸消失，並且您開始看到合作夥伴的定價趨於正常化。您目前的合作夥伴通路狀況如何？

And should we expect a similar number of announcements in the calendar year or fiscal year ahead?

那麼，我們是否應該預期在接下來的日曆年或財政年度會有類似數量的公告發布呢？

I mean, your first part of your question is easy to answer. The pipeline has never been more full. We're very excited about it, et cetera. You don't know until they're done, right? So as we can and we kind of publicly agree to talk about it publicly, we will let you know about those things.

我的意思是，你問題的第一部分很容易回答。管道從未如此暢通。我們對此感到非常興奮等等。不到最後，誰也說不準，對吧？所以，一旦我們能夠公開談論此事，並且雙方都同意公開討論，我們就會通知你。

But this is -- I mean, these kinds of things are only increasing, not decreasing. And there's been a lot of sense that has been brought into this marketplace. So we're going to get lots of swings at it, and we're winning some of those swings and we're going to keep going. So pipeline is as big as it's ever been.

但我的意思是，這類事情只會增加，不會減少。而且，市場已經湧現許多這樣的理念。所以我們會經歷很多波折，我們也贏得了一些，我們會繼續保持這種勢頭。因此，目前的銷售通路規模空前龐大。

That's great to hear. And then kind of going back to your guide, so you raised the midpoint by a pretty substantial amount. Can you help us think of the puts and takes in relation to the updated outlook? And what would need to happen for you to reach the top end versus the bottom end of the new ranges?

聽到這個消息真是太好了。回到你剛才提到的指南，你大幅提高了中點。能否幫我們分析一下，在更新後的展望下，哪些是買進和賣出？以及，要達到新區間的上限和下限，分別需要滿足哪些條件？

I think part of it is we've talked about these new partners that have come on, and we're seeing the benefits. But as you begin working with a new partner, you kind of learn what's the trajectory. You have sort of a funnel of opportunity and some get to the higher end of it, some get to the lower. We are now confident on that funnel to do what we did.

我認為部分原因是，我們已經討論過這些新加入的合作夥伴，並且看到了他們帶來的好處。但是，當你開始與新合作夥伴合作時，你會逐漸了解合作的發展軌跡。這就像一個機會漏斗，有些人能到達漏斗的頂端，有些人則只能到達底部。現在，我們對這個漏斗充滿信心，相信我們能夠取得我們所取得的成就。

And so as we go through the course of the year and we continue to monitor those new partners coming on and feel solid that it's actually going to happen is not just a hope, we'll continue to talk about where we are in that funnel.

因此，隨著我們一年時間的推移，我們將繼續專注於新合作夥伴的加入，並確信這不僅僅是一種希望，而是真正能夠實現的，我們將繼續討論我們在這過程中所處的位置。

Yeah. And I think the other thing is tax season too, right? I mean as we think about our guide, we clearly think to a multitude of different scenarios across our businesses. And I think Brett kicked through some of the positives on the tax business heading into tax season here and we're really enthusiastic about it. But I agree with Brett.

是的。我覺得還有一點就是報稅季，對吧？我的意思是，我們在製定指南的時候，顯然考慮到了我們業務中各種不同的情況。我覺得布雷特剛才提到了一些報稅季到來之際稅務業務的正面因素，我們對此感到非常振奮。但我同意布雷特的觀點。

I mean, the two factors that are going to push us to the higher end of that guide. One is the timing on just the pull-through on those partners we talked about, the ones we've already announced. The other is going to be the success of the tax season. We're really enthusiastic about it. But until you get into tax season, you start to see the numbers, you've got to temper expectations a little bit, but we're really, really enthusiastic heading into it.

我的意思是，有兩個因素會推動我們達到預期目標的高端。一是我們之前提到的那些合作夥伴（也就是我們已經宣布的那些）的合作進展速度。二是報稅季的成功與否。我們對此充滿信心。不過，在報稅季真正到來、看到具體數據之前，我們必須稍微降低一下預期，但我們對即將到來的報稅季確實充滿信心。

Yeah. One other thing, don't miss the secondary market income topic this time. The government shutdown slowed us down a little bit. I think this was in Greg's comments, and we expect that to come right back through because that was a temporary thing. And so we have that to look forward to as well, and that's part of what we're seeing.

是的。還有一件事，這次別錯過二級市場收益這個話題。政府停擺確實稍微拖慢了我們的步伐。我想格雷格在評論裡也提到了這一點，我們預計這種情況很快就會好轉，因為這只是暫時的。所以我們對此也充滿期待，這也是我們目前所看到的。

Yeah.

是的。

So it sounds like the two biggest swing factors are somewhat out of your control, depending on partner ramp and the volume that goes through the tax offices. Is that fair to say?

聽起來，兩個最大的影響因素在某種程度上不受你控制，取決於合夥人晉升速度和稅務局的業務量。這麼說對嗎？

Yeah. I mean, I think out of our control would be more like there's a range of possibilities, and we'll continue to manage those and hope for the upper side of it. But you don't know until you know. And what we don't want to do is overcommit.

是的。我的意思是，我覺得「超出我們控制範圍」更準確的說法是，存在一系列可能性，我們會繼續應對這些可能性，並希望情況朝著好的方向發展。但不到最後一刻，誰也說不準。我們不想做的就是過度承諾。

And then just kind of one last one for me here. So new loan originations increased pretty meaningfully in the quarter. I understand part of that was due to some of the new relationships on the consumer side.

最後，我再補充一點。本季新增貸款金額顯著成長。據我了解，部分原因是因為與消費者方面建立了一些新的合作關係。

Do you have a sense for what new originations will look like in 2016 (sic - "2026")? And should we expect kind of held for sale balances to increase in tandem with that? Or with the velocity kind of coming through the balance sheet increase just to kind of mitigate that upward movement?

您對2016年（原文誤寫為「2026年」）的新增貸款情況有何看法？我們是否應該預期待售貸款餘額會隨之增加？或者，資產負債表上的資金周轉速度加快，會在一定程度上緩解新增貸款餘額上升的趨勢？

Let's unpack that a little bit. I mean, in the quarter, we certainly saw the uptick on the consumer side. And as you know, those are, by and large, largely held for sale at this point and turn pretty quick. I'm optimistic that as the existing partners ramp and scale that, that volume is going to continue to certainly on a year-over-year basis, scale versus where it was. And I think scale from what we're seeing in this quarter.

讓我們來詳細分析一下。我的意思是，本季我們確實看到了消費者方面的成長。而且您也知道，這些產品目前大多是待售的，週轉速度很快。我樂觀地認為，隨著現有合作夥伴逐步擴大規模，銷售量肯定會繼續成長，而且與去年同期相比，規模肯定會更大。我認為，從本季的情況來看，銷售成長勢頭良好。

So again, that's all balance sheet velocity and that will largely come through as a fee income. Some of those programs do have interest income as part of them, but the majority of the economics come through is on the fee side. We haven't touched it on the commercial finance side. They also had a really good quarter on the production side.

所以，這都與資產負債表的周轉速度有關，而且主要會以手續費收入的形式反映出來。雖然有些項目也包含利息收入，但大部分經濟效益來自手續費收入。我們還沒有涉及商業融資方面。此外，他們在生產方面也取得了非常好的季度業績。

And when I think about the balance of the year, that's also a pipeline that's really full, particularly when you think across USDA, SBA, working capital, and with the balance sheet optimization work that we've been doing.

當我考慮今年剩餘時間時，那也是一個非常繁忙的項目，特別是考慮到美國農業部、小型企業管理局、營運資金以及我們一直在進行的資產負債表優化工作。

For those three verticals, in particular, particularly USDA, it's about optionality. So I think we're really enthusiastic about that pipeline, too, and the optionality it provides us either to continue to hold on balance sheet or as we see fit kind of sell into the market and drive some secondary market revenues. But over the balance of the year, I would actually expect commercial finance to start generating numbers that are meaningful enough that we're going to start talking about them.

對於這三個垂直領域，尤其是美國農業部（USDA）而言，關鍵在於選擇權。因此，我們對該項目也充滿信心，因為它為我們提供了選擇權，我們可以繼續持有資產負債表上的份額，也可以根據情況將其出售到市場，從而獲得一些二級市場收入。但在今年剩餘的時間裡，我預計商業融資業務將開始產生足夠有意義的數據，屆時我們就可以開始討論這些數據了。

And then just actually one more for me on credit. I understand that you went over in your prepared remarks, NPAs, NPL ratios ticked up, NCOs are basically zero. Is there anything that you currently see in the portfolio that you find incrementally different versus three months ago?

最後，關於信貸方面，我還有一個問題。我知道您在事先準備好的發言稿中提到，不良貸款率有所上升，但壞帳基本上為零。您目前在投資組合中是否發現與三個月前相比有任何細微的變化？

No. I mean, again, these things that we have that are non-performing loans are in various different sub-asset classes. There's no pattern, system or anything like that. And we're serious about our conversation that our historical past and our belief is there's not going to be a relationship between NCOs and non-performing loans because we do a different kind of lending that is very much collateral managed. So there's nothing in there systematic.

不。我的意思是，再次強調，我們這些不良貸款屬於各種不同的次資產類別。沒有任何規律、系統或其他關聯。我們非常認真地討論過，根據我們的歷史經驗和信念，不良貸款和不良資產之間不會存在任何關聯，因為我們提供的貸款類型不同，而且是高度依賴抵押品管理的。所以這其中沒有任何系統性因素。

(Operator Instructions) There are no more questions remaining at this time. I'll pass it back over to the team for closing remarks.

（操作說明）目前沒有其他問題了。我將把發言權交還給團隊做總結陳詞。

All right. Well, thank you very much for joining today. Have a good evening.

好的。非常感謝您今天的參與。祝您晚安。

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect your lines.

今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您可以掛斷電話了。