Retail giant Walmart has collaborated with Green Dot to launch GoBank, a mobile-first checking account that aims to serve the nation’s under-banked.
The new service, which is expected to be available by the end of October, is intended to be a low-cost alternative to traditional bank checking accounts.
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The decision to introduce the checking account came after hearing from customers that "traditional banking fees are just too high," said Molly Blakeman, a Walmart spokeswoman.
The accounts are linked to MasterCard debit cards and don’t charge overdraft, minimum-balance or monthly fees when customers use direct deposit.
It also enables instant person-to-person payments, pay-anyone bill pay, offers budgeting tools to facilitate money management, as well as uses proprietary underwriting techniques to ease account opening for any consumer who passes ID verification.
GoBank also makes the process of setting up an account quicker, has a transparent fee structure, provides early payroll direct deposit to help customers deposit their paycheck early, helps send money instantly through text message or e-mail free of charge.
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By GlobalDataIt offers a service called "Fortune Teller" which advises customers on spending by crosschecking an item’s price with a customer’s planned income and expenses.
Another service offered by GoBank is ‘Money Vault’ which is an integrated bank account and helps customers move money into the vault in real-time for safekeeping or take the money out to be accessed with their debit MasterCard.
