PASADENA, Calif. & BENTONVILLE, Ark. -- Green Dot and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. have announced the nationwide rollout of GoBank, a checking account product available exclusively on the mass retailer's shelves. The checking account, from Green Dot Bank (Member FDIC), is designed for the debit card. GoBank doesn't charge overdraft fees, minimum-balance fees or monthly fees with qualifying direct deposits.
With a qualifying direct deposit of $500 per month, GoBank waives the monthly membership cost of $8.95.
GoBank also features a network of 42,000 free ATMs.
Wal-Mart is offering GoBank, a full-featured checking account, as part of its checking alternatives category.
"Walmart customers want easier ways to manage their everyday finances and increasingly feel they just aren't getting value from traditional banking because of high fees," said Daniel Eckert, senior vice president of services for Walmart U.S. "Adding the GoBank checking account to our shelves means our customers will have exclusive access to one of the most affordable, inclusive and easy-to-use checking accounts in the industry. GoBank gives our customers yet another option as to how they manage their money. When our customers have options, they win."
GoBank comes with a range of features that on-the-go, mobile-centric consumers need, including instant person-to-person payments (via email or text), pay-anyone bill pay, budgeting tools and more.
Neither a ChexSystems score nor credit bureau rating is used as the basis for determining customer eligibility. Instead, GoBank uses proprietary underwriting techniques to allow almost any consumer who passes ID verification to open an account.
To set up a GoBank account, consumers purchase a starter kit for $2.95. After setup, customers can immediately use their starter debit MasterCard for purchases until their personalized card arrives in the mail.
Fees include a 3% foreign transaction fee and out-of-network ATM fees (typically $2.50 for an out-of-network ATM plus any fee the ATM owner may assess).
GoBank also offers early payroll direct deposit so customers can get their paycheck deposited earlier than their normal payday if their employer notifies GoBank of a deposit in advance.
GoBank also offers financial advice: "Remember that time you won the lottery? I don't either." This is a response a customer might see from GoBank's "Fortune Teller," if they try to spend beyond their budget. "Fortune Teller" crosschecks the price of an item with a customer's planned income and expenses, and if they can't afford it, they'll be advised in real-time to pass on the purchase.
The product will be available nationwide by the end of October.
Green Dot and its wholly owned subsidiary bank, Green Dot Bank, are focused exclusively on serving low- and moderate-income families with modern, fair and feature-rich financial products and services, including prepaid cards, checking accounts and cash processing services distributed through a network of approximately 95,000 retail stores, based in Pasadena, Calif., with Green Dot Bank located in Provo, Utah.
Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart has 11,053 stores under 71 banners in 27 countries, with fiscal-year 2014 sales of more than $473 billion,
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