[datavirtue]

Green Dot is a prepaid debit card marketer and servicer. Green Dot Bank....is a bank that is owned by Green Dot. Green Dot has some products on different banks...like Metabank.

Green Dot is or was the dominant prepaid card sold in Walmart and all major grocery stores. They offer a Rapid Reload service where you can bring cash to a Walmart register and have it loaded into a prepaid card.

They basically serve people who have been ejected from the banking system. One of their main products was an anonymous card that could be reloaded and used to transfer money. A favorite of prostitutes and other illegal services that was eventually snuffed out by the banks because of KYC (know your customer) violations.

People would load money onto the card and just give it to someone else or transfer between them. All anon.

[Dave3of5]

How did they make money in this ?

Most banks wouldn't work in this manner due to high risk.

[datavirtue]

Most banks taking this stance leaves the entire market for others. It is fuelled by fees. Green Dot fees are quite high. What you say is true, though. I was with an established prepaid company (acquired by GD) that got dropped by a bank or two.