Green Dot Teams With Check Casher Amscot to Expand Banking

FinTech and digital bank Green Dot and financial services firm Amscot Financial launched a banking partnership.

The collaboration will see Florida-based Amscot use Green Dot’s Arc embedded finance platform to offer customers access to banking services that include demand deposit accounts (DDAs), a built-in secured credit card, and a network of more than 25,000 free in-network ATMs, according to a Monday (Nov. 17) press release.

“For more than 35 years, Amscot has prioritized safety and reliability for hardworking Floridians seeking financial services,” Amscot Financial founder and CEO Ian MacKechnie said in the release. “This partnership with Green Dot advances our mission by enhancing accessibility to modern, affordable banking options that help our customers build strong financial foundations.”

There is demand for alternative financial services in the United States, as about 19 million households were underbanked in 2023, the release said. That means these households had a bank or credit union account but chiefly used nonbank products and services to meet their financial needs.

Amscot offers nonbank financial services such as cash advances, check cashing and bill payments at more than 230 locations across Florida, making it one of the largest financial service center companies in the state, according to the release.

“At Green Dot, we have a long-standing commitment to supporting low- to moderate-income consumers, including the millions of Americans living paycheck to paycheck,” Jamison Jaworski, senior vice president and general manager of Green Dot’s consumer division, said in the release. “We deliver the value, convenience and flexibility this financially stretched group needs to manage their money, along with tools to help build a stronger financial future.”

The PYMNTS Intelligence report “Embedded Finance as a Strategic Initiative,” a collaboration with Green Dot, found last month that nearly every major company has already embedded financial services into their platforms to strengthen customer engagement, bolster loyalty and speed growth.

“Yet even as 93% of firms say the payoff outweighs the pain, most are racing to upgrade within the year,” PYMNTS wrote Oct. 21. “They’re transforming embedded finance from a convenience into a strategic imperative.”