Walmart and Green Dot expand relationship, form new fintech program
by October 30, 2019 5:16 pm 986 views
Walmart announced a new seven-year contract agreement with Green Dot to continue as the issuing bank and manager for the retail giant’s MoneyCard program. The partners also agreed to launch a new financial tech accelerator.
Walmart said the MoneyCard deal is an extension of a partnership that has been in place since 2006. The Walmart MoneyCard Program is a prepaid debit card that has grown into the largest retailer-exclusive program of its kind in the U.S., according to the release.
The program gives unbanked consumers an opportunity to manage their funds, pay bills though free money transfers or checks without incurring overdraft fees. Consumers can make deposits to their money card account via a smartphone camera. Consumers with the MoneyCard are also protected against unauthorized transactions.
In a surprise move, the partners also said they will establish a new fintech accelerator under the name “TailFin Labs.” The mission of TailFinLabs is to develop innovative products, services and technologies that sit at the intersection of retail shopping and consumer financial services.
“Over the years, Walmart has brought to market many innovative industry-defining financial services offerings to serve our customers – including several introduced through the Walmart MoneyCard program managed by Green Dot,” said Daniel Eckert, senior vice president, Walmart Services and Digital Acceleration. “With this expanded relationship, and by leveraging Walmart’s footprint and existing offerings with Green Dot’s cutting-edge capabilities, we’ll be uniquely positioned to offer an unmatched set of customer experiences that sit at the nexus of omni-channel retail and tech-enabled financial services.”
Eckert said the joint effort will address the shift in consumer preferences and expectations. The accelerator efforts will reflect the mingling of various consumer tasks such as healthcare services, digital wallets, payments and financial services capabilities.
The newly Walmart majority-owned fintech accelerator intends to focus on developing tech-enabled solutions that integrate omni-channel retail shopping and financial services, for consumers and businesses. The accelerator aims to continue to expand upon Walmart’s current suite of omnichannel retail shopping tools by uniquely leveraging industry-leading, fintech solutions wrapped around and built atop of Green Dot’s industry leading “Banking-as-a-Service” (BaaS) platform.
“We believe the combination of Walmart’s unmatched retail ecosystem with Green Dot’s innovative and highly flexible BaaS platform, which enables the world’s largest technology and consumer brands to address their consumers with bespoke financial products and services, has the opportunity to create and bring to market many new and exciting innovations over the years to come,” said Steve Streit, founder and CEO of Green Dot.