Yesterday, Green Dot unveiled it’s newest financial services offering — a banking service designed to provide full featured banking services to today’s mobile, fee-conscious consumers. The service is branded as GoBank.com and is currently in a limited beta mode. Green Dot is positioning the service as an alternative to large banks, taking a page out of the Simple.com playbook. Green Dot was apparently able to bring the GoBank.com service to market in a surprisingly short period of time thanks to its unique set of assets — a top-notch mobile development team and platform acquired in Green Dot’s acquisition of Loopt, and the fact that Green Dot owns an FDIC insured bank — (branded as Green Dot Bank, and acquired in an acquisition of Bonneville Bank in 2011). Unlike the team behind Simple.com, Green Dot also has extensive experience in running a transactional consumer finance business, as Green Dot developed and grew it’s prepaid debit card and prepaid card load network into one of the industry’s largest.

GoBank.com customers will enjoy one of the most straight forward fee structures available for any full service bank account. Here’s the list of fees — an (optional) monthly maintenance fee, ATM fees for out of network ATM transactions, and international transaction fees. There is also an optional fee if a customer wants a customized debit card. That’s it. 4 or 5 fees (compare that to a traditional bank’s fee schedule, which can include dozens of different fees).

The GoBank.com account is a real account with a full set of banking features that will allow most consumers to satisfy all their banking needs, including bill payment, a debit card usable at a large network of in-network ATMs, and perhaps most importantly, an ability to easily deposit checks using GoBank’s mobile banking application (available for both Apple and Android phones).

One reason Green Dot may be able to pull this off with such low consumer fees is the fact that Green Dot Bank is exempt from the Durbin Amendment, and is not subject to the interchange fee caps that larger banks must contend with.

GoBank.com produced a slick video showing some of the features and benefits of their service, shown below.

First, visit any of the 30,000 retail locations that carry the card. Look for the PayPal MyCash Card on one of the “j-hooks” at many retail checkout lanes. The cards come in fixed amounts (such as $20 or $50 denominations). Pay the clerk with cash (you’ll be charged a fee for the card which is currently a fee of $3.95 to activate the card). So, if you want to load $20 onto your PayPal account, purchase a $20 card for $23.95.

Once the card is activated, go to a computer (or use your mobile phone browser) and visit http://www.paypal.com/cash. There, you will be prompted to login to your PayPal account and enter a code associated with the PayPal MyCash Card that you just purchased. Once you enter the code, the funds will be transferred from the MyCash Card to your PayPal account for instant use.

This announcement by PayPal could make online shopping more convenient for millions of consumers who are “unbanked” (people who don’t have a traditional bank account).

A parent is required to set up the account and can choose several different ways to load or deposit a child’s allowance or other pocket money onto the card. For example, a parent can schedule a weekly or monthly amount of funds to be deposited onto the PKTMNY card from the parent’s bank account (or from a credit card or debit card account).

To make things fun and educational for children, PKTMNY allows parents to set up earning goals and other targets. Parents can use these goals to allow their kids to earn their allowance.

As with all financial products, the use of the PKTMNY card comes with several fees, including an activation fee and a monthly usage fee. Parents will need to do their math before choosing to use this card.

Besides no credit check, the Chase Liquid Visa claims to offer other benefits like FDIC account protection and a $4.95 monthly fee with no other hidden charges. Even though many prepaid cards state “no hidden charges”, we at GetDebit always encourage consumers to read each card’s terms and conditions. For example, Chase claims that no charges will be incurred by customers for making deposits or withdrawals from the company’s branches or ATMs, although someone using the card at a non-Chase ATM, might definitely incur a “non bank” ATM fee.

The Chase Liquid prepaid Visa should be a top choice for consumers seeking a prepaid card with low fees and excellent ATM access choices.

On May 1, the Federal Reserve published the results of an initial survey comparing the debit interchange fees charged by each payment association and card network charges. The research is summarized by the Federal Reserve, and an excel spreadsheet is provided with the summary details.

A copy of the research summary is shown below. The research data includes a summary of interchange fees from 2009 (for all issuers, including big banks and exempt banks), data for the period before implementation of Durbin (January 1- September 30, 2011, for both large and exempt banks), and data for the period right after implementation of Durbin (October 1 – December 31, 2011).

The shift in interchange has been dramatic post-Durbin. First, all of the large issuers immediately were required to drop interchange to the Durbin-imposed limits (essentially, 21 cents plus 0.05% of the value of the transaction, and a 1 cent fraud adjustment). In 2009, the average interchange fee was 43 cents. For large issuers, post-Durbin, the average dropped to 24 cents (with Discover branded cards significantly lower than that).

Exempt banks (smaller banks with assets of less than $10 Billion, and certain prepaid debit card issuers) saw a slight drop in the average interchange fee charged for signature debit transactions — going from the aggregate average in 2009 of 55 cents to an average of 51 cents in the period immediately after Durbin went into effect.

Exempt banks saw an increase in interchange for PIN debit transactions. In 2009, the aggregate average interchange for PIN debit transactions was 23 cents. In the period immediately after Durbin went into effect, small banks charged an average of 31 cents per transaction.

As the folks at CreditSlips write, The small banks are getting a leg up on the big guys in the two-tier system

Is this good news for prepaid card issuers? More fee revenue (or less of a hit) may mean more product innovation and options… or just greater profit for these issuers.

Debit Card Interchange – Average Interchange by Network Pre and Post Durbin

Jeremy Kuiper, Managing Director of Bancorp’s Payment Solutions division said:

“Swift Prepaid is a driving force in the loyalty, promotion and incentive card space and is at the forefront of prepaid innovation. We are pleased to announce our relationship with Swift and believe that the strength and commitment of The Bancorp will be a great complement to the Swift product offerings.”

Braven Imai, President and CEO of Swift also stated:

“Bancorp is an ideal issuing bank for Swift. By aligning with Bancorp, we have chosen a partner that will greatly enhance Swift’s prepaid programs.”

Mia Mends of PreCash stated:

“Like Americans with banking relationships, prepaid customers want optional services associated with their cards. PreCash developed these features: a savings account for people to plan for the future, roadside assistance to provide them with comfort in the case of car emergencies, and cash back on gas purchases to reward them for using the card.

Although not predominantly offered with all prepaid cards, value-added extras are becoming more and more noticeable in many prepaid programs these days. The recently announced American Express Prepaid Card includes some of the popular added extras also found on their successful credit card platform. The Mango MasterCard offers not only an optional savings account, but investing tools and renters insurance programs. The READYdebit Visa card family has free online bill payment, free mobile banking and a free credit “ScoreTracker” with their prepaid products.

Be aware that many of these value-added platforms can come with higher or additional fees. Always check out resources available to compare prepaid debit cards and select the best card for you.

Dan Henry, CEO of NetSpend was quoted:

“PayPal has chosen us to be the exclusive program and distribution manager and processor for their GPR card. We are marketing the PayPal prepaid card online and through our direct mail channels. Through this relationship, we are able to offer the prepaid card to PayPal’s 106 million active users.”

Don Kingsborough, VP and General Manger at PayPal added:

“The PayPal Prepaid MasterCard brings PayPal customers even more financial flexibility and choice for both online and brick-and-mortar purchases.”

Another prepaid favorite for entirely different reasons is the READYdebit prepaid card family. While not offering the lowest fee structure out there, READYdebit does offer cardholders a myriad of fantastic features and benefits you just can’t get everywhere. Included in some plans are FREE Online Bill Pay/Check Writing, FREE monthly fee with Direct Deposit ($1500), No Credit Check, No Overdraft Fees, Card-to-Card Money Transfer, FDIC Insurance, Visa Zero Liability Plan, Super Abundant Loading Sources and even a FREE Credit ScoreTracker for customers to track their credit scores. There are several plans to choose from, so if you don’t like the fees and features of one plan, you can always change to another.

The last prepaid card we would like to show you is the Western Union MoneyWise Prepaid MasterCard. This is another of example of outstanding value all wrapped up in a low-fee product. With a $0 Activation Fee, a $0 Monthly Fee, $0 Overdraft Fee, $0 Transaction Fees, $0 Customer Service Fees, FREE Online Bill Payment and No Credit Check required, this card is unbelievable. Also included is FDIC protection and great online account management features. There are a couple of fees that do need to be disclosed like an inactivity fee, an ATM fee and Western Union agent cash load fee. You can compare cards and fees here.

So, take your sweetheart out for Valentine’s Day using your own prepaid card, or get her or him one of their own. Always read the cardholder agreement no matter what financial instrument you choose to make sure it works right for you.

In a 2002 Census Bureau supplement, Hispanics of Mexican origin represent over 66% of the total Hispanic population, while the remaining 33% originate from Central America, South America, Puerto Rico, Cuba and others. As market share for these and other prepaid demographics continues to climb in the U.S., Mango appears poised to capture a good deal of it.

According to the Mango website, the Mango MasterCard is a card with a low fee structure, as well as some added features not found in many other prepaid cards. Some highlights include – no activation fee, no purchase fee, no credit check, smart phone apps, an attached savings account option, free customer service, an instant virtual card, free balance checks/text alerts via mobile device and no bank funds transfer fee. Another benefit worth mentioning is that the $5 monthly maintenance fee can also be credited to customers loading or direct depositing $500 or more each calendar month.

Whether you are considering the Mango MasterCard or any other prepaid card, compare, do your homework and read the terms of conditions before you commit. Make sure it is the right card for you.