State of the Bank: the Age-Old Industry Needs to Change Its Approach for Today’s Consumer

  State of the Bank: the Age-Old Industry Needs to Change Its Approach for
  Today’s Consumer

 National “State of the Bank” survey by Harris Interactive and GoBank™ shows
            disconnect between banking industry and its customers

Business Wire

SAN FRANCISCO -- January 15, 2013

GoBank, which launched today as a brand of Green Dot Corporation (NYSE: GDOT)
released the results of its December 2012 “State of the Bank” survey conducted
online nationwide, on its behalf, by Harris Interactive. The survey finds that
a vast majority of Americans^1 don’t fully trust big banks, and numerous
people are surprised by fees or feel they’re simply unfair. Americans are
moving away from traditional bank services like paper checks and bank branches
to seek out more innovative, mobile banking solutions that are trustworthy and
transparent. To see an info-graphic that highlights the survey results, visit
http://press.gobank.com/StateoftheBank.

Americans Don’t Fully Trust Big Banks

The comprehensive survey asked Americans about their current perceptions of
banks.

  * Nearly two-thirds (64%) say they do not fully trust big banks.
  * When asked about their bank in particular, the vast majority of people
    (87%) do not feel their bank is transparent, and 68% do not perceive their
    bank as being “on their side.”
  * These perceptions are driven in part by Americans’ experiences with bank
    fees: 30% say they are sometimes surprised by unexpected bank fees, and
    31% claim their bank’s fees are simply unfair.
  * It’s clear that some Americans are facing challenges when 40% say that
    dealing with their bank or finances stresses them out sometimes.

Banks Lack Innovation

In addition to specific perceptions about banks, people were asked to discuss
their sense of innovation across several U.S. industries. When asked which
industries have been the most innovative over the last 10 years, banking was
one of the lowest, with only airlines and pet care viewed as less innovative.
The most innovative industries identified were computers and mobile phones.
Along those lines, when asked who would build a better, more modern bank,
two-thirds (66%) of checking account holders chose Silicon Valley over Wall
Street.

“Historically, traditional bank accounts have complex fees that favor the
institutions, not their customers,” said Lewis Goodwin, CEO of Green Dot Bank
(parent company of GoBank). “We believe people are hungry for more
transparency and innovative features from their bank… the kind they often get
from tech companies.”

Consumer Behavior is Changing

The behavior of consumers captured in the State of the Bank survey reflects a
significant change in the use of traditional bank account services. For
example, 67% of checking account holders said they write fewer paper checks
than they used to, and 14% of 18-34 year olds, who are checking account
holders, have never written a paper check in their life. It appears that bank
branches are also becoming less relevant, with 79% of checking account holders
claiming they do not visit bank branches often. See more on the info-graphic
at http://press.gobank.com/StateoftheBank.

Survey Methodology

This survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris
Interactive in partnership with GoBank, a brand of Green Dot Corp, on December
18-20, 2012 among 2,080 adults age 18 and older who have checking accounts.
The data above reflects the 1,519 respondents who have total household incomes
of less than $100,000. This online survey is not based on a probability sample
and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. For
complete survey methodology, including weighting variables, please contact
press@gobank.com.

About GoBank

GoBank is a brand of Green Dot Bank, Member FDIC. GoBank is the first bank
account designed from scratch to be opened and used on a mobile device. With
GoBank, members have full access and control of their money from their iPhone,
iPod Touch or Android device, and can withdraw cash from more than 40,000
fee-free ATMs in the U.S. For more information about GoBank or to request a
membership invitation, visit http://gobank.com. You can also visit
http://facebook.com/GoBankUS or http://twitter.com/GoBank.

About Green Dot

Green Dot Corporation is a publicly traded bank holding company with a mission
to reinvent personal banking for the masses. Its products and brands include
Green Dot brand reloadable prepaid debit cards, The Green Dot Reload Network,
the Green Dot MoneyPak and GoBank. The Company’s prepaid products and services
are available in more than 60,000 retail stores nationwide and online at
Greendot.com. GoBank is available online at GoBank.com and via the Apple App
Store and Google Play with additional distribution locations to be announced
in 2013. The company is headquartered in Pasadena, Calif. with technology
offices in Mountain View, Calif. and Westlake Village, Calif. and its bank
subsidiary, Green Dot Bank, located in Provo, Utah.

About Harris Interactive

Harris Interactive is one of the world's leading market research firms,
leveraging research, technology, and business acumen to transform relevant
insight into actionable foresight. Known widely for the Harris Poll^®  and for
pioneering innovative research methodologies, Harris offers proprietary
solutions in the areas of market and customer insight, corporate brand and
reputation strategy, and marketing, advertising, public relations and
communications research. Harris possesses expertise in a wide range of
industries including health care, technology, public affairs, energy,
telecommunications, financial services, insurance, media, retail, restaurant,
and consumer package goods. Additionally, Harris has a portfolio of
multi-client offerings that complement our custom solutions while maximizing
our client's research investment. Serving clients in more than 196 countries
and territories through our North American and European offices, Harris
specializes in delivering research solutions that help us - and our clients -
stay ahead of what's next. For more information, please visit
www.harrisinteractive.com.

^1 Refers to Americans who indicate they have a checking account at a bank or
credit union and whose total household income is less than $100,000

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Contact:

GoBank
Quinn Daly, Press Relations
press@gobank.com
310-600-8005
or
Green Dot
Chris Mammone, Investor Relations,
IR@greendot.com
626-765-2427