How Will Green Dot’s Move Affect the Prepaid Card Industry?
We believe the move by Green Dot will have significant implications to the U.S. prepaid debit card industry. Here is how Green Dot explains the acquisition in their S/1 filing: We believe this acquisition will increase the efficiency with which we introduce and manage potential new products and services, reduce the risk that we would be negatively impacted by changes in the business practices of the banks that issue our cards, reduce the sponsorship and service fees and other expenses that we pay to third parties, and allow us to serve our customers better and more efficiently through a more vertically integrated platform. Green Dot currently issues their general purpose reloadable debit cards through Columbus Bank and Trust Company (including both the Green Dot prepaid MasterCard and the Green Dot prepaid Visa). The Walmart MoneyCard (which comprises a substantial portion of Green Dot’s general purpose reloadable portfolio) is issued by GE Money Bank. The move by Green Dot to become a
