Green Dot 2014 Annual Report Download - page 66

Note 1—Organization
Green Dot Corporation (“we,” “us” and “our” refer to Green Dot Corporation and its wholly-owned subsidiaries) is
a pro-consumer technology innovator with a mission to reinvent personal banking for the masses. Our products and
services include: Green Dot MasterCard and Visa-branded prepaid debit cards and several co-branded reloadable
prepaid card programs, collectively referred to as our GPR cards; Visa-branded gift cards; checking account products,
such as GoBank, an innovative checking account developed for use via mobile phones that is available at Walmart
and online; our swipe reload and MoneyPak proprietary products, collectively referred to as our cash transfer products,
which enable cash loading and transfer services through our Green Dot Network. The Green Dot Network enables
consumers to use cash to reload our prepaid debit cards or to transfer cash to any of our Green Dot Network acceptance
members, including competing prepaid card programs and other online accounts; and tax refund processing services
designed to facilitate the secure receipt of funds claimed by a taxpayer as a refund on a taxpayer's tax return.
Our products and services are available to consumers in more than 100,000 U.S. retail stores, thousands of
neighborhood financial service center locations, online, and in app stores. We are also the tax refund processing
service provider for four out of the six leading consumer online and in-person tax preparation companies.
We market our products and services to banked, underbanked and unbanked consumers in the United States.
We use distribution channels other than traditional bank branches to market our GPR cards, checking accounts and
cash transfer services, such as third-party retailer locations nationwide, financial service centers, and the Internet. Our
prepaid debit cards are issued by our wholly-owned subsidiary, Green Dot Bank and third-party issuing banks including
The Bancorp Bank, Sunrise Banks, N.A., and prior to February 2014, GE Capital Retail Bank. We also have multi-
year distribution arrangements with many large and medium-sized retailers, such as Walmart, Walgreens, CVS, Rite
Aid, 7-Eleven, Kroger, Kmart, and Dollar Tree, and with various industry resellers, such as Blackhawk Network and
Incomm. We refer to participating retailers collectively as our “retail distributors.” Our tax refund processing services
are integrated into the offerings of the nation’s leading tax software companies, which, together, enable us to serve
approximately 25,000 independent online and in-person tax preparers and accountants nationwide.
GREEN DOT CORPORATION
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
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Note 2—Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
Principles of Consolidation and Basis of Presentation
Our consolidated financial statements include the results of entities that we control through a 50% or more ownership
interest. We prepared the accompanying consolidated financial statements in accordance with generally accepted
accounting principles in the United States of America, or GAAP. We eliminated all significant intercompany balances
and transactions in consolidation. We include the results of operations of acquired companies from the date of
acquisition.
Use of Estimates and Assumptions
The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires us to make estimates and assumptions
that affect the amounts reported in the consolidated financial statements, including the accompanying notes. We base
our estimates and assumptions on historical factors, current circumstances, and the experience and judgment of
management. We evaluate our estimates and assumptions on an ongoing basis. Actual results could differ from those
estimates.
Unrestricted Cash and Cash Equivalents and Federal Funds Sold
We consider all unrestricted highly liquid investments with an original maturity of three months or less to be
unrestricted cash and cash equivalents. Federal funds sold consist of unsecured overnight advances of excess balances
in our bank reserve account and are included in unrestricted cash and cash equivalents on our consolidated statements
of cash flows.
Investment Securities
Our investment portfolio is primarily comprised of fixed income securities. We classify these securities as available-
for-sale and report them at fair value with the related unrealized gains and losses, net of tax, included in accumulated
other comprehensive income, a component of stockholders’ equity. We classify investment securities with original
maturities greater than 90„days, but less than or equal to 365„days as current assets.