Green Dot 2010 Annual Report Download - page 18

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merchant acquiring and card issuing banks. Western Union, MoneyGram, Blackhawk and Netspend each
have a national network of retail and/or agent locations. In addition, we compete for consumers and billers
with financial institutions that provide their retail customers with billing, payment and funds transfer
services. Many of these institutions are substantially larger and have greater resources, larger and more
diversified customer bases and greater brand recognition than we do.
We believe that the principal competitive factors for reload network services include:
• the number and quality of retail locations;
• brand recognition;
• product and service functionality;
• number of cardholders and customers using the service;
• reliability of the service;
• retail price;
• enterprise-class and scalable IT;
• ability to integrate quickly with multiple payment platforms and distributors;
• customer support capabilities; and
• compliance and regulatory capabilities.
We believe the Green Dot Network competes favorably on each of these factors.
Prepaid Card Distribution
We compete against the full spectrum of prepaid card distributors and third-party processors that sell
competing prepaid card programs through retail and online channels. Many of these institutions are
substantially larger and have greater resources, larger and more diversified customer bases and greater
brand recognition than we do. Many of these companies can also leverage their extensive customer bases
and adopt aggressive pricing policies to gain market share. As new payment methods are developed, we
also expect to experience competition from new entrants. Our primary competitors in the prepaid card
distribution market are: InComm, Blackhawk, First Data, Netspend and AccountNow. In addition, we face
potential competition from Western Union, MoneyGram and a number of retail banks if they enter this
market.
We believe that the principal competitive factors for the prepaid card distribution market include:
• brand recognition with consumers and retailers;
• the ability to reload funds;
• ability to develop and maintain strong relationship with retail distributors;
• compliance and regulatory capabilities;
• pricing; and
• large customer base.
We believe our products compete favorably on each of these factors.
Intellectual Property
We rely on a combination of trademark and copyright laws and trade secret protection in the United
States, as well as confidentiality procedures and contractual provisions, to protect the intellectual property
rights related to our products and services.
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