Green Dot Completes Bank Acquisition

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Green Dot Corp. has completed its previously announced acquisition of Bonneville Bancorp for $15.7 million in cash.

Acquisition of the Provo, Utah bank, first announced in March, will allow the Monrovia prepaid-debit card company to streamline its business. Bonneville, which has about $37 million in assets, will be renamed Green Dot Bank and be used to issue and administer most of the company’s debit cards.

Green Dot will contribute about $14 million to the bank to provide an initial capital base for its expanded operations. The bank will continue to operate its Provo storefront under the Bonneville Bank name.

Green Dot’s debit cards, mainly sold at retail outlets, currently are not linked to bank accounts, though customers can arrange for direct deposits to the cards. Most Green Dot cards now are issued by Synovus Financial Corp, a third party in Columbus, Ga.

“The additional vertical integration provided through this acquisition greatly mitigates the risks inherent in the reliance on unaffiliated bank- issuing partners,” said Green Dot Chief Executive Steve Streit in a statement.

The completion of the bank acquisition was announced late Thursday. Shares of Green Dot on Friday were down 4 cents, or less than 1 percent, to $32.36 on the New York Stock Exchange.