BANKING ON THE UNBANKED

With innovative companies trying to harness the unbanked and coral them into a banking service I would rather deal with the emerging company's that want to serve the existing unbanked under conditions more suitable to their immediate needs and more realistic time lines IMHO.

I feel SCG.V & MIT.V have strong positions in slightly different markets dealing with the unbanked. With the global crisis spreading through Europe we may see an even higher demand for an alternative service of banking and cash transfers.

GreenDot & NetSpend have shown that there is a multi-billion dollar industry out there but they have narrowed their scope of business in effect handcuffing themselves to only a portion of the true unbanked pool of clients around the globe in my opinion.

SelectCore Ltd. is a distributor and provider of prepaid telecommunications products and services to developed and under-serviced market segments across Canada. The Company is in the business of providing prepaid telecom and transaction-based point of sale activation (POSA) solutions utilizing its own network infrastructure and PrepaidONE technology. SelectCore sells prepaid products and services to Canada’s credit and unbanked consumer market through thousands of retail convenience and grocery store locations nation-wide. 0.405-0.020 (-4.71%)

Mint Technology Corp. (Mint) is a Canada-based company engaged in providing prepaid financial products and services worldwide. It is engaged in the provision of prepaid debit and payroll cards, loyalty and alternative payment solutions. It manages the issuance, administration, customer support, payment processing and set-up, sponsorship and reporting of the cards and related activities. Mint's products and services include Mint program management, alternative credit to payroll, general purpose and travel. In July 2010, it formed and incorporated Mint Middle East LLC (Mint Middle East). On September 8, 2009, the Company acquired 60% of the net assets and business of Waseela Equity LLC (Waseela), which is a United Arab Emirates payment services company. In January 2010, Mint disposed of three of its subsidiaries, which include Mint Inc., Mint Capital Corp. and Mint Shared Services Inc. to DirectCash Acquisition Holdings Inc., a subsidiary of DirectCash Income Fund. 0.140-0.005 (-3.45%)

Green Dot Corporation (Green Dot) is a prepaid financial services company providing money management solutions to a range of the United States consumers. It sells its cards and offers its reload services globally at approximately 55,000 retail store locations, which provide consumers convenient access to its products and services. Its technology platform, Green PlaNET, provides functionality, including point-of-sale connectivity and interoperability with Visa, MasterCard and other payment or funds transfer networks, and compliance and other capabilities to its Green Dot Network. It has designed its products and services to consumers living in households across four consumer segments: never-banked, previously-banked, underbanked and fully-banked. Its principal products and services consist of Green Dot-branded general purpose reloadable (GPR) cards, co-branded GPR cards, and MoneyPak and point-of-sale (POS). $33.23+1.12 (3.49%)


Net Spend Holdings, Inc. (NetSpend) is a provider of general-purpose reloadable prepaid debit cards (GPR) cards and related alternative financial services to underbanked consumers in the United States. The Company provides financial products and services adapted to meet its consumers financial services needs and preferences. In addition, its products and services provide its retail distributors to improve their customer relationships and generate incremental, ongoing revenue streams. The products the Company markets and processes are the products of MetaBank, Inter National Bank, SunTrust Bank and U.S. Bank, or collectively its issuing banks. The Company provides a feature suite of products and services to its cardholders, including direct deposit, MetaBank's iAdvance line of credit, overdraft protection through its issuing banks, complimentary insurance coverage and a variety of bill payment options. $9.58+0.09 (0.95%)

If you dig a bit deeper you will find more similarities than differences except when it comes to the share price. The American markets have seen the value and are eating up shares in GreenDot & NetSpend while these two Canadian company's go unnoticed virtually while there revenues grow at a viral rate and debt becomes a thing of the past.

What will happen when investors in the USA wake up to the story of SCG.V & MIT.V in the marketplace. Will they instantly head towards their American rivals?

CONTENT POSTED ON THIS BLOG DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A BUY OR SELL RECOMMENDATION. MANY OF THE COMPANIES PROFILED HERE I AM NOT INVESTED IN AND DO NOT INTEND TO INVEST IN. THESE ARE MERELY MY THOUGHTS ON MARKET CONDITIONS AND STOCK VALUATIONS. INVESTING IN THE STOCK MARKET CAN BE VERY RISKY AND YOU SHOULD ALWAYS CONSULT AN INVESTMENT PROFESSIONAL BEFORE MAKING ANY DECISIONS. ULTIMATELY YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR CONDUCTING YOUR OWN DUE DILIGENCE AND PROTECTING YOUR MONEY.