BANK TALK
Exploring the Finances of the Unbanked

Blackhawk Secures a Slew of New Prepaid Contracts

October 28th, 2011

Quietly, Blackhawk Network has been lining up agreements that will have a big impact on how consumers load money on to their prepaid cards.

Earlier in the month, Blackhawk reported that it has reached loading agreements with AccountNow, PreCash, NetSpend, Galileo and Ready Debit.

(more…)


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October 28th, 2011 08:15:58

NetSpend in Play: Green Dot or Capital One could be Buyers

August 25th, 2011

Rumors are circulating that NetSpend (NTSP) will soon be purchased by one of its competitors.

Shares of NetSpend fell below $5 last week. The Federal Reserve has placed an enforcement order upon NetSpend’s largest share holder.

Analysts think that Green Dot and Capital One are the entities most likely to want to bid for their shares. NetSpend (more…)


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August 25th, 2011 07:29:57

Green Dot’s Great Quarter

August 03rd, 2011

Green Dot reported some fantastic results on Thursday.

In its 10-q, released on Thursday afternoon, Green Dot revealed incredible growth. More people using their prepaid (more…)


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August 03rd, 2011 06:22:48

More about the Amex Prepaid Card

June 24th, 2011

There are new reasons why the Amex prepaid card presents some problems.

I have written twice about the Amex card already. The Amex card appears to be a great card but hard to use. BillPay only works for vendors that accept American Express. It won’t use recurring ACH transactions, (more…)


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June 24th, 2011 11:52:36

Bank Notes: Green Dot, Chase, Payday in California

May 24th, 2011

Green Dot is still doesn’t own Bonneville Bancorp. In February 2010 (16 months ago), Green Dot agreed to buy Bonneville Bancorp for $15.7 million. Bonneville is a very small bank in Provo, Utah. Green Dot is buying the bank with cash. There was some initial upheaval about the transaction (from me) that this was a shadow transaction that allowed Wal-Mart to buy a charter. Steve Streit settled those concerns through a very direct outreach to advocates. Some advocates took the step of sending a letter to the Federal Reserve which rescinded their initial protest against the acquisition. Comments closed last summer, but the Federal Reserve still has not (more…)


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May 24th, 2011 10:19:39