預付卡之王
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????一旦“金點子”一敗涂地，大多數創業菜鳥們往往就此一蹶不振。但49歲的史蒂芬?W?斯特雷特卻突發奇想，最終時來運轉。斯特雷特曾做過“成人時代”廣播音樂節目制作人。1999年，他在位于加利福尼亞州蒙羅維亞的臥室里創立了一家名為iGen的公司。公司的目標是：為青少年提供預付費借記卡，使他們可以在線購物。 ????然而，這種借記卡推出之后并未引起孩子們的興趣。相反，那些沒有支票戶頭或無法申請信用卡的成年人卻蜂擁搶購，用這種卡支付日常開支，比如家用開銷等。斯特雷特回憶說：“當時我想：‘我們的產品沒有問題，只是目標市場定位出現了偏差。’因此，我們進行了調整。” ????之后，斯特雷特將公司更名為綠點（Green Dot），并獲得了硅谷公司紅杉資本（Sequoia Capital）的投資。目前，綠點公司已經成為美國最大的“非銀行用戶”預付費借記卡提供商。美國的“非銀行用戶”約有7,300萬人。綠點公司于2010年上市。紅杉資本最初持有的580萬美元股份，現在的價值約為2.7億美元。 ????綠點公司真正迎來突破是在2005年。當時，沃爾瑪（Wal-Mart）與其合作發行了沃爾瑪現金卡（MoneyCard），消費者在沃爾瑪將工資或退稅兌現后，可以將現金存入卡中。2011年第一季度，綠點公司的收入達到1.17億美元，比2010年上漲了26%，而其中僅來自沃爾瑪業務所占比例就高達60%。目前，綠點公司已發行借記卡數量為430萬張，遙遙領先于競爭對手netSpend公司的230萬張。去年，受公司良好發展前景的吸引，沃爾瑪增持該公司9%的股份。就連美國財政部（U.S. Treasury）也在綠點公司進行試點，通過其借記卡辦理退稅。 ????然而，綠點公司也面臨諸多不利因素。首先，競爭日益激烈：美國運通（American Express）也即將推出其預付卡，而其他商業銀行也紛紛暗示，將參與競爭。雖然運通卡瞄準的是利基市場，以持有一般支票賬戶的客戶為目標客戶群，主要功能是用于支付孩子的大學費用，但運通卡收取最低的手續費。這將給綠點公司帶來不小的麻煩，因為綠點借記卡購卡和充值都需要交費，此外每月還要收取維護費。目前，盡管綠點公司堅稱自己的收費是透明的，但美國佛羅里達州首席檢察官正在對此類公司展開調查。 ????法規變化是另外一個不確定因素。在關于銀行對借記卡交易的收費限制方面，多德?弗蘭克法案》（Dodd-Frank Act ）之《德斌修正案》（The Durbin Amendment）特別將預付費公司排除在外，因為它們面對的是低收入市場。但如果預付費卡被廣泛接受，則這一規定或將改變。 ????正是這些不確定因素給綠點公司的股票帶來了負面影響。目前，該公司股票賣出價為27美元，比36美元的上市價格下跌了24%。幾個月前，公司股價還曾暴漲至65美元。摩根大通（J. P. Morgan）銀行業分析師黃天津稱：“由于市場對公司未來前景的質疑，公司的股票也出現了諸多爭議。”但即便如此，他依然增持了該公司的股票。斯特雷特稱，他對新競爭對手表示歡迎，因為他堅信，競爭對手的出現將擴大行業的業務范圍。但公司所面臨的壓力或許需要他再次施展魔法，再來一次“靈光閃現”。 ????翻譯：劉進龍/汪皓 |
????Not many fledgling entrepreneurs could survive the discovery that their brainchild was a flop. But Steven W. Streit, 49, had a eureka moment that turned his fortunes around. In 1999, Streit, a former adult-contemporary radio programmer, started a business called iGen in the bedroom of his Monrovia, Calif., apartment. The goal: to give teenagers a debit card loaded with prepaid cash so that they could shop online. ????When the card was rolled out, kids didn't show much interest but adults who couldn't get checking accounts or credit bought the cards in droves, using them for such prosaic tasks as paying household bills. "I thought, 'We have the right product, just the wrong target market,' so we retooled," Streit recalls. ????Streit rechristened the company Green Dot (GDOT), got backing from Silicon Valley venture firm Sequoia Capital, and now is the largest provider of prepaid debit cards to the "underbanked" in America, a class estimated at 73 million people. Green Dot went public in 2010: Sequoia's original $5.8 million stake is now worth around $270 million. ????Its breakthrough came in 2005 when Wal-Mart (WMT) partnered with it for the Walmart MoneyCard, which customers load with money when they cash a paycheck or tax refund at a Wal-Mart. The retailer now accounts for 60% of Green Dot's revenue, which hit $117 million in 2011's first quarter, up 26% over 2010. With 4.3 million cards outstanding, it is far ahead of its closest rival, netSpend (NTSP), with 2.3 million. Wal-Mart was so impressed that it bought 9% of the company last year. Even the U.S. Treasury has started a pilot program to issue tax refunds on Green Dot cards. ????Yet Green Dot is facing some strong headwinds. Competition is heating up: American Express (AXP) is introducing its own prepaid card and commercial banks are hinting they will join the fray. Although the AmEx card appears aimed at a niche market a way for people with normal checking accounts to give money to college kids, for example it is charging minimal fees. That could mean trouble for Green Dot, which charges to buy the cards and reload them, then adds a monthly maintenance fee. Now Florida's attorney general is investigating prepaid firms to see whether they fully disclose their charges. Green Dot insists it does. ????Legislative changes are another uncertainty. The Durbin Amendment tucked into the Dodd-Frank Act specifically excluded prepaid cards from its limits on how much banks can charge for processing debit card transactions, because they serve the low-income market. That could change if prepaid cards become more widely accepted. ????All those doubts have had a dampening effect on Green Dot's stock, which is selling at $27, about 24% below its IPO price of $36. That's down from $65 just a few months ago. "There is a lot of controversy over the stock because of doubts about future growth," says Tien-tsin Huang, a banking analyst at J.P. Morgan, who nonetheless has an overweight on the company. Streit says he welcomes new competitors because he believes they will expand the category. But the pressure may force him to conjure up yet another eureka moment. |
