Walmart and Green Dot are to create an accelerator for startups sitting at the intersection of retail shopping and consumer financial services.
The Walmart majority-owned fintech accelerator, dubbed Tailfin Labs, intends to expand upon the retailer's current suite of omnichannel retail shopping tools by tapping fintech innovations built atop of Green Dot’s Banking-as-a-Service platform.
The news comes as the US retail giant extends it deal with Green Dot as the issuing bank and programme manager for the Walmart MoneyCard by a further seven years.
The Walmart MoneyCard was created by Walmart and Green Dot in 2006, and in many ways can be viewed as a precursor to the ongoing neo bank trend. It offers cash-back rewards on Walmart purchases, as well as early direct deposit, online bill pay, prize savings, and almost all of the features that one would expect from a traditional checking account.
Daniel Eckert, SVP, Walmart Services and Digital Acceleration, says: “With this expanded relationship, and by leveraging Walmart’s footprint and existing offerings with Green Dot’s cutting-edge capabilities, we’ll be uniquely positioned to offer an unmatched set of customer experiences that sit at the nexus of omni-channel retail and tech-enabled financial services.”