Business

Exploring the Impact of Education: How PFEF and Inmates Help Support Children of the Incarcerated and Parolees in Education

Published

1 year ago

August 28, 2024

Many people are aware that the United States incarcerates the highest number of inmates worldwide. However, most do not understand the impact this has on their community and society at large.

“The nation’s strict prison sentences are not solving problems; they are creating them,” says Percy Pitzer, founder of the Pitzer Family Education Foundation (PFEF). “Instead of making the world safer, strict incarceration rates breed cycles that perpetuate and even increase crime.”

When 1.8 million incarcerated Americans are released back into the community, more than two-thirds are quickly rearrested for new crimes. What’s more, incarceration breeds a new generation of problems. Compared to their peers, the more than 5 million US boys and girls who have at least one parent in prison are six times more likely to follow their parents into involvement with the criminal justice system.

PFEF believes that education is the key to breaking the cycles of recidivism and intergenerational incarceration. For children of incarcerated parents and former inmates, access to education has the power to alter the course of their lives. For parolees, it provides a path to re-enter society with dignity.

PFEF and the National Children of the Incarcerated Scholarship Program

As a retired warden with over four decades in the US correctional system, Percy Pitzer was no stranger to recidivism and intergenerational incarceration. “I saw the cycle everywhere I looked,” he remembers. “Each time I passed a child sitting with their parents in the visiting room, I knew I was probably looking into the eyes of a future client. Without proactive support, most inmates and their children are bound to be trapped by this powerful cycle.”

Children with a parent in prison are forced to navigate psychological challenges, care deficiencies, and financial hardships. These obstacles notably hinder their educational aspirations and future prospects.

PFEF intervenes through the National Children of the Incarcerated Scholarship Program to provide scholarships that enable these children to pursue higher education. By doing so, PFEF helps to break the cycle of generational incarceration, offering a lifeline to those affected by their parents’ actions.

Applications for the National Children of the Incarcerated Scholarship Program are accepted throughout the year on a first-come, first-served basis. PFEF staff assists with financial aid applications, as their primary goal is to ensure applicants receive the resources they need to become successful students.

PFEF’s commitment goes beyond financial support to encompass emotional and logistical assistance that enhances the overall educational experience for these children. To date, their efforts have provided over 190 scholarships to children of parolees and inmates nationwide. Most notably, they have seen 133 successful graduates complete their education.

Inmates join the contributions

An impactful aspect of PFEF’s work is its dedication to involving current inmates in the scholarship program. To date, inmates in 14 state departments of corrections have collectively donated $244,034 towards college tuition costs for children of the incarcerated, which allowed the foundation to award 190 scholarships.

“Even though inmates do not have large amounts of money to contribute individually, most are eager to rally behind this cause,” remarks Pitzer. “Collectively, their contributions can make a huge difference. Best of all, when they take an active role in supporting their children’s education, it fosters a sense of responsibility and purpose.”

Furthermore, Pitzer points out how education can enhance inmates’ mental abilities and diminish the anti-social mindsets linked to criminality.

“Numerous inmates have reported that education fostered their shift away from prison ideologies towards setting constructive goals and finding a significant path in life,” he says. “By contributing to these scholarships, inmates can help develop pro-social values crucial for successful reentry into society. They know that their contributions help break the cycle of generational incarceration and provide educational opportunities that their children would probably not receive otherwise.”

Impacting recidivism with financial aid for parolees

In addition to supporting children, PFEF extends its reach to parolees re-entering society through targeted financial aid programs. The foundation partners with Lamar State College and the ABC Training Academy to provide trade certificate courses that cater to a wide range of interests and skill sets. These include a one-and-a-half-year welding program, a three-year electrical program, a three-year pipe-fitting program, a nine-month course covering industrial carpentry, a three-year course in instrumentation, and a 10-week course in scaffold building.

Since its inception, PFEF has awarded financial aid to 1,328 paroled students for the ABC Training Academy and currently offers funding to 626 students. Over the years, it has assisted 187 graduates in rejoining society with the skills they need to find stable and well-paying jobs.

By breaking the cycle of incarceration through education, PFEF transforms individual lives and contributes to broader societal change. “When we put people behind bars, we do not solve our problems,” Pitzer concludes, “but when we educate them, we can help set inmates and their children on a new path. Education gives them the tools to rise above their circumstances and break the cycles that hold them back.”

Business

Inside the $4.3B Quarter: What’s Fueling Black Banx’s Record Revenues

Published

4 days ago

January 16, 2026

Matthew Wiles

Every quarter brings fresh headlines in fintech, but few make the kind of impact achieved by Black Banx in Q2 2025. The Toronto-based global digital banking group, founded by Michael Gastauer, reported an extraordinary USD 4.3 billion in revenue and a record USD 1.6 billion in pre-tax profit, while improving its cost-to-income ratio to 63%.

These results not only highlight the company’s operational efficiency but also mark a pivotal moment in its journey from challenger to global leader. The big question is: what’s fueling such impressive financial performance?

Customer Growth as the Core Driver

One of the clearest engines of revenue growth is Black Banx’s expanding customer base. By Q2 2025, the platform had reached 84 million clients worldwide, up from 69 million at the end of 2024. This 15 million net gain in six months demonstrates both the attractiveness of its services and the scalability of its model.

Unlike traditional banks, which rely heavily on branch expansion, Black Banx leverages digital-first onboarding that allows customers to open accounts within minutes using just a smartphone. This approach is especially effective in regions underserved by legacy institutions, where access to affordable financial tools is in high demand.

More customers don’t just mean higher transaction volumes—they generate a compounding effect where network size, brand trust, and service adoption reinforce one another.

Real-Time Payments and Cross-Border Solutions

A major contributor to Q2 revenues is the platform’s real-time payments infrastructure. Black Banx enables instant cross-border transfers across its 28 supported fiat currencies and multiple cryptocurrencies, helping both individuals and businesses bypass the traditional bottlenecks of international banking.

For freelancers, SMEs, and multinational clients, this means faster liquidity, reduced foreign exchange costs, and simplified global operations. The demand for real-time financial services is growing rapidly—Juniper Research projects global real-time payments turnover to hit USD 58 trillion by 2028—and Black Banx is strategically positioned to capture a significant share of this market.

Crypto Integration as a Revenue Stream

Another key revenue driver is crypto integration. While many traditional institutions remain hesitant, Black Banx embraced digital assets early and has built infrastructure to support Bitcoin, Ethereum, and the Lightning Network. In Q2 2025, 20% of all transactions on the platform were crypto-based, reflecting strong customer appetite for hybrid banking services that bridge fiat and digital assets.

Revenue comes not only from transaction fees but also from value-added services like crypto-to-fiat conversion, staking yields (4–12% APY), and blockchain-enabled payments. For customers in markets with unstable currencies, these services act as a financial lifeline, further expanding the platform’s relevance.

AI-Powered Efficiency and Risk Management

Record revenues would be less impressive if costs ballooned at the same rate. But Black Banx has proven adept at balancing growth with efficiency. Its cost-to-income ratio improved to 63% in Q2, down from 69% a year earlier, thanks to heavy reliance on AI-powered automation.

AI now drives fraud detection, compliance, and customer onboarding—areas where traditional banks often struggle with cost inefficiencies. By automating these processes, Black Banx can process millions of transactions securely while maintaining profitability at scale. This level of efficiency is rare in fintech, where high growth often comes at the expense of margins.

Regional Expansion and Untapped Markets

Geography also plays a role in fueling revenues. Much of the Q2 growth came from Africa, South Asia, and Latin America—regions where demand for mobile-first banking continues to soar. In 2024 alone, Black Banx reported a 32% increase in SME clients from the Middle East and Africa, signaling the strength of its positioning in underserved markets.

By extending services to populations previously excluded from formal banking—migrant workers, rural communities, and small businesses—Black Banx taps into vast pools of latent demand. The strategy proves that financial inclusion and profitability are not mutually exclusive but mutually reinforcing.

Diversified Revenue Streams

Another factor behind Q2’s record revenues is Black Banx’s diversified business model. Income is not tied to a single service but spread across multiple streams, including:

Transaction fees from cross-border transfers and payments.
Crypto trading and exchange services.
Premium account features for high-net-worth clients.
Corporate services for SMEs and international businesses.

This diversification insulates the company against volatility in any single segment, creating stable revenue growth even in shifting market conditions.

Michael Gastauer’s Strategic Blueprint

Behind these results is Michael Gastauer’s long-term strategy: scale aggressively but with efficiency, innovation, and inclusion at the core. His vision has always been to create a borderless financial ecosystem, and Q2 2025’s performance is evidence that this vision is not only achievable but sustainable.

By balancing mass-market accessibility with premium features, and by blending fiat with digital assets, Gastauer has positioned Black Banx as a category-defining player in global finance.

The Road Ahead: Toward 100 Million Clients

Looking forward, the company’s goal of reaching 100 million customers by the end of 2025 will likely be the next catalyst for revenue growth. More customers mean more transactions, more data insights, and more opportunities to refine and expand its service offering.

If current momentum holds, the USD 4.3 billion quarterly revenue milestone could be just the beginning of an even larger growth story. The challenge will be ensuring systems scale securely while maintaining trust in an environment where privacy and compliance are paramount.

A Record That Signals More to Come

Black Banx’s Q2 2025 performance—USD 4.3 billion in revenue, USD 1.6 billion in pre-tax profit, 84 million clients worldwide, and a lean 63% cost-to-income ratio—is more than a financial milestone. It is a signal of how the future of banking is being rewritten by platforms that are borderless, crypto-inclusive, and data-driven.

What fueled this record-breaking quarter is not one innovation but a combination of strategies—scalable onboarding, real-time payments, crypto integration, AI efficiency, and expansion into underserved regions. Together, they form a model that doesn’t just challenge traditional banking but actively builds the foundation for global dominance.

For Black Banx, the road ahead is clear: the $4.3 billion quarter is not an endpoint but a launchpad for even greater scale and profitability.