NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Thursday, September 25, 2014

Apple Pay what again? Walmart is getting into the mobile banking space, the companyannounced this morning, through a partnership with financial services provider Green Dot Corporation. The company’s low-cost checking account product called GoBank is now being made available exclusively at Walmart, offering customers an overdraft-free bank account with no minimum balance requirements. The service is aimed at the low-end of the market, where customers are often referred to as the “un-banked” or “under-banked.”

The GoBank account is designed to appeal to those who are looking for the conveniences of a traditional bank – including support for direct deposits, ATM access, bill pay, person-to-person payments, money management tools, and more – without the accompanying fee structure associated with big banks. GoBank users will never be assessed NSF fees for bad checks, and with a qualifying direct deposit of $500 per month, the bank’s monthly membership charges ($8.95/mo) are waived. (There’s also a “starter kit” needed to sign up for a GoBank account, which costs $2.95.)