As competition intensifies in the fast-growing prepaid market, Green Dot Corp.’s new partnership with the Blackhawk Network will land the card provider’s products in some 10,000 additional retailers within the next 24 months.
The Monrovia, Calif.-based company expects the agreement will result in Green Dot cards appearing in some 5,000 new locations to start, according to an Oct. 11 press release.
“Blackhawk’s large network of retail locations provides a great platform for Green Dot to further expand its national reach,” Mark Troughton, Green Dot’s president of cards and network, said in the release.
Green Dot’s products are available at 55,000 retail locations including 7-Eleven Inc. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc., among others.
The news about Green Dot’s new partnership comes just two weeks after competitor NetSpend Corp. expanded its current affiliation with Blackhawk (
“We’ll be working with Blackhawk to ensure that we have placement in the store that differentiates our product,” Troughton told PaymentsSource in an email. “As in our other retailers, this will evolve over time. Having said this, the key for differentiating our products will always be brand and overall product value proposition.”
Madeline Aufseeser, an Aite Group senior analyst, told PaymentsSource at the time of NetSpend’s partnership that the move provided more scale in the marketplace for the provider.
Troughton says Green Dot’s deal is less about scale and more about “expanding distribution of our products, increasing reload options for our customers, and developing a strategic partnership with a key player in the retail space.”
