GoBank is bringing an online-only bank to your iPhone
Prepaid debit card company Green Dot is making the next (logical?) step in its business with the launch of GoBank, a bank that exists only on the web... and on your iPhone. As reported by AllThingsD, a key component of the new bank is a mobile app developed by the team responsible for Loopt, a check-in based social network purchased by Green Dot last year.
Via the app and a website, GoBank will let customers maintain a checking account and conduct the usual assortment of transactions free of fees for things like in-network ATM use (otherwise US$2.50 per transaction) and overdrafts. As for a monthly fee, the bank is taking the unusual approach of letting customers decide how much they want to pay per month, from nothing up to $9.
GoBank is obviously hoping that customers will opt to pay something, but will supplement revenue by offering the option to create custom debit cards that contain photos and other artwork uploaded by account holders. Standard debit cards will be free, but the personalized plastic will run $9. Back on the app side of things, customers will be able to use it to snap photos of checks for making deposits and send money to others using their email addresses, a la PayPal.
The bank is currently in beta (how's that for a weird thing to hear?) and is accepting new customers on an invite-only basis (ditto).
