“We’re excited to announce our plan to move Green Dot’s corporate headquarters from Pasadena, Calif., to Austin, Texas,” the company said in a statement confirming comments made initially by CEO Dan Henry to CNBC on May 7.
“It’s simple math and logic. I am surprised even more companies don’t do the same. (Texas offers) a combination of business friendly, growth-oriented policies with attractive housing and tax options for the employees,” said George Sutton, research partner with Craig-Hallum Capital Group in Minneapolis.
“The Austin region continues to be a top global destination for companies looking to grow,” Laura Huffman, president and Chief Executive of the Austin Chamber of Commerce, said in a statement to the Business Journal.
Henry was named chief executive officer of Green Dot in March 2020. He has been running the business without a permanent chief financial officer, the No. 2 spot in the company.
Henry has vowed to make the prepaid card issuer less reliant on promotional marketing of its traditional products and more dependent on its banking license to drive profits.
On May 5, Green Dot reported that profit fell 82.1% in the 2021 first quarter while revenue rose 9%. Profit dropped to $25.7 million on revenue of $393.5 million in the quarter, compared to profit of $46.8 million on revenue of $362.2 million in the same year-ago period.
But thanks to stimulus dollars and unemployed benefits enacted by the federal government in March, Green Dot raised its financial forecast for 2021.