Intel Report Digital Banking - Flipbook - Page 14
CASE STUDIES
Green Dot Corp.
Green Dot is one of the oldest and most successful digital financial pioneers. It is
highly profitable and offers banking products through partners such as Walmart,
Uber Technologies and Amazon, plus a newly launched direct to consumer digital-only platform, GO2Bank.
In its newest phase, Green Dot continues to focus on low-income and unbanked
customers while trying to provide unique financial products that help them manage
their financial lives better. For example, GO2Bank offers its customers fee-free overdraft and access to their FICO credit score through a partnership with Experian.
Its customer base often deals in cash, so GO2Bank offers deposit and cash services
through its existing network of some 90,000 retailer locations such as Walmart.
Abhijit Chaudhary, general manager of Green Dot’s direct-to-consumer business,
says the only way Green Dot has been able to stand up new products quickly, in
about a month’s time, is because it doesn’t have legacy technology like a traditional
bank does, which drags out some product launches to eight to 12 months or more.
He estimates that Green Dot’s entire company touches about 50 million people per
Source: Green Dot Corp.
year, which gives it a lot of data to understand its customers, their financial behavior and their needs.
Square
Consider Square. The business payments company launched a consumer brand
called Cash App in 2013, which became the No. 1 finance app in 2020, based on
Apple and Google Play downloads. The app, which allows customers to send and
store money for free, had 36 million active monthly users as of December 2020,
meaning they’re using the app at least once per month. That’s up from 24 million in
December 2019, a 50% increase in one year.
It’s not just accounts that are climbing. So are profits. Square reported gross profit for Cash App at $495 million in the first quarter 2021, up 171% compared to
the first quarter of 2020. The person-to-person payment capabilities are the loss
leader for Cash App. Square doesn’t make money from P2P. Instead, the company
generates revenue through its prepaid debit card and other financial services such
as bitcoin buying and selling, investing in stocks and exchange-traded funds, and
cross-border payments.
Square has pursued a referral and social media campaign to generate interest,
where celebrities like Megan Thee Stallion — known for hit songs like “WAP” and
“Savage”— post videos about investing. These connections enhance Square’s visSource: Twitter @theestallion
12 | FINXTECH INTELLIGENCE REPORT
ibility with younger customers: More than 50 songs on the digital music platform
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