At a time when most banks are making it much less palatable to use your debit card, a small non-branch bank in Delaware is rolling out a new debit card with a rewards program.

Maybe I should qualify the choice of the word “small” to say that Bancorp Bank is a now a (more…)

NetSpend’s annual report says that they have been told by the Office of Thrift Supervision says any new relationships between MetaBank and existing program partners will require OTS approval.

NetSpend is an existing partner/program manager for cards issued by MetaBank. This is an interesting wrinkle (more…)

The Bancorp Bank (TBBK) will issue some of the debit cards marketed and distributed by NetSpend under a new, multi-year agreement announced this morning.

While not an exclusive agreement, it is an important event that marks the first step in NetSpend’s Bank Diversification Strategy.  NetSpend has been clear about its desire to find more bank partners. Last year, NetSpend’s initial public offering was upset when the OTS issued a directive to MetaBank on the week that NetSpend had intended to (more…)

NetSpend will move some of its prepaid card business away from MetaBank.

In a filing today, NetSpend indicated that it has signed non-binding agreements with The Bancorp Bank (TBBK) and H&R Block Bank.

Since October 6th, NetSpend concluded that the OTS’ Supervisory agreement restricted the ability of MetaBank to service any new relationships with MetaBank distributors. In other words, if NetSpend reached an agreement to put its cards in the offices of a retailer, they would not be able to use MetaBank as the issuer of that card. NetSpend has new distribution partnerships in the works, so the ruling (more…)

I continue to find evidence that there is a fundamental shift going on in how low-income consumers access the payments system.  Earlier, I wrote at length about MetaBank and their prepaid debit card/line of credit platform developed in conjunction with NetSpend. I made some headway learning about the Emerald Advance and the Emerald Advance line of credit, both from Block.

Later, I made mention of the RushCard – a similiar product issued with funds from Bancorp Bank and M&T Bank.

Today, I see that Bancorp Bank (TBBK) has struck again.  Let’s look at their Eufora Card.  Eufora aims at the segment (more…)