Green Dot Profit Rises 35%

Buoyed by growth in the number of active cards, Green Dot (GDOT) reported first-quarter earnings of $17.1 million, up 35% from the same period a year earlier.

Despite the discontinuation of a program with Intuit's (INTU) TurboTax, the company posted solid organic growth, Steve Streit, Green Dot's chairman and chief executive, said in a news release. The agreement, which ended in October, allowed TurboTax users to receive their tax refund on Green Dot cards.

The Monrovia, Calif., company said Thursday that total operating revenue increased 21%, to $142.3 million, year over year.

The prepaid card company said Thursday that the number of general-purpose reloadable debit cards activated during the quarter increased 1%, to 2.2 million. Excluding the TurboTax program in both periods, the number jumped 23% year over year.

The number of active cards at quarter end totaled 4.7 million, up 10%, from a year earlier. Discounting the TurboTax program, the number of active cards rose 20% year over year. Gross dollar volume climbed 5%, to $4.8 billion, from a year earlier.