Green Dot Corp (GDOT) SEC Annual Report (10-K) for 2017

__________________________________________________

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017

OR

For the transition period from   to 

Commission file number 001-34819

(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☑ No o

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes o No ☑

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☑ No o

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files). Yes ☑ No o

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K (§ 229.405 of this chapter) is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant's knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K. ☑

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of "large accelerated filer," "accelerated filer," "smaller reporting company," and "emerging growth company" in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. o

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes o No ☑

The aggregate market value of the common equity held by non-affiliates of the registrant (assuming for these purposes, but without conceding, that all executive officers, directors and 10% or greater stockholders are "affiliates" of the registrant) as of June 30, 2017 , the last business day of the registrant's most recently completed second fiscal quarter, was approximately $1.5 billion (based on the closing sale price of the registrant's common stock on that date as reported on the New York Stock Exchange).

There were 51,283,678 shares of Class A common stock, par value $0.001 per share as of January 31, 2018 .

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

Portions of the registrant's proxy statement relating to the registrant's 2018 Annual Meeting of Stockholders are incorporated by reference into Part III of this Annual Report on Form 10-K where indicated.

GREEN DOT CORPORATION

TABLE OF CONTENTS

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This report contains forward-looking statements regarding future events and our future results that are subject to the safe harbors created under the Securities Act of 1933 (the "Securities Act") and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the "Exchange Act"). All statements other than statements of historical facts are statements that could be deemed to be forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current expectations, estimates, forecasts and projections about the industries in which we operate and the beliefs and assumptions of our management. Words such as "expects," "anticipates," "targets," "goals," "projects," "intends," "plans," "believes," "seeks," "estimates," "continues," "endeavors," "strives," "may" and "assumes," variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. In addition, any statements that refer to projections of our future financial performance, our anticipated growth and trends in our businesses, and other characterizations of future events or circumstances are forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned that these forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties, and assumptions that are difficult to predict, including those identified below, under "Part I, Item 1A. Risk Factors," and elsewhere herein. Therefore, actual results may differ materially and adversely from those expressed in any forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements for any reason.

In this report, unless otherwise specified or the context otherwise requires, "Green Dot," "we," "us," and "our" refer to Green Dot Corporation and its consolidated subsidiaries, the term "GPR cards" refers to general purpose reloadable prepaid debit cards, the term "prepaid cards" refers to prepaid debit cards and the term "our cards" refers to our Green Dot-branded and co-branded GPR cards. In addition, "prepaid financial services" refers to GPR cards and associated reload services, a segment of the prepaid card industry.

PART I

ITEM 1. Business

Overview

Green Dot Corporation is a pro-consumer bank holding company and financial technology innovator with a mission to reinvent personal banking for the masses. We employ a unique "products and platform" operating model whereby we use our banking and technology assets to design, build and distribute our branded financial services products directly to consumers through a large-scale omni-channel national distribution platform, while also allowing qualified third party partners to access those same banking and technology assets to design, build and distribute their own bespoke financial services directly to their consumers through their own distribution platforms. Through our six revenue divisions and our subsidiary bank, Green Dot Bank, we are a leading provider of prepaid cards, debit cards, checking accounts, secured credit cards, payroll debit cards, consumer cash processing services, wage disbursements and tax refund processing services. With approximately 100,000 major name U.S. retail stores selling our products, several leading direct-to-consumer websites, thousands of tax preparation offices, several apps available in the two leading app stores and distribution through several enterprise-scale "Banking as a Service," or "BaaS," partnerships, we are one of the most broadly distributed banking franchises in the United States. We are headquartered in Pasadena, California, with additional facilities throughout the United States and in Shanghai, China.

As the regulated entity and issuing bank for substantially all products and services we provide, whether our own or on behalf of a BaaS platform partner, we are directly accountable for all aspects of each program's integrity, inclusive of ensuring the program's compliance with all applicable banking regulations, applicable state and federal law and our various internal governance policies and procedures related to all areas of risk and compliance, in addition to deploying enterprise-class risk management practices and procedures to ensure each program's initial and ongoing safety and soundness.

Acquisitions

In February 2017, we completed our acquisition of all the membership interests of UniRush, LLC to expand our online direct-to-consumer channel and our emergent corporate payroll card business. The fair value of the total consideration in connection with the acquisition was approximately  $163.7 million , which included cash and contingent consideration in the form of an earn-out. Additional information regarding the acquisition is included in the information set forth in Note 3 - Business Acquisitions of the consolidated financial statements contained in Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.

Our products and services

We offer consumers a broad collection of financial products and services managed through several diverse business lines which are then made available to consumers through a widely-available "branchless" distribution network in the United States. Many of the products and services we internally create and distribute are marketed under the Green Dot brand name, which we believe is both a well-known and highly trusted brand name for millions of consumers. Our branchless network consists of:

Our products and services include several deposit account programs, such as network-branded reloadable prepaid debit cards marketed under several leading consumer brand names, which we collectively refer to as "GPR cards,"

consumer checking accounts, small business checking accounts, network-branded gift cards (known as open-loop), secured credit cards and other financial services.

We also offer several products and services that specialize in facilitating the movement of cash on behalf of consumers and businesses. These products and services include: our proprietary swipe reload system for crediting cash onto an enabled payment card by swiping the payment card at the point-of-sale at any Green Dot Network participating retailer; MoneyPak, a product that allows a consumer to add funds to accounts we issue or accounts issued by other United States chartered and regulated third party banks; and e-cash remittance services, a service that allows a consumer to transfer funds to a smartphone for fulfillment at a Green Dot participating retailer. We refer to these services collectively as our cash transfer products. We also provide disbursement services through our Simply Paid platform that enables a payment solution for companies to pay their workforce and customers in the time and manner they desire and provide tax refund transfers that provide the processing technology to facilitate receipt of a taxpayers' refund proceeds.

Our BaaS Platform

Through our BaaS Platform, we currently power the following types of products and services on behalf of several of America's largest retail, consumer, technology and financial services companies:

Our Segments and Distribution Channels

Our products and services and BaaS Platform are divided among our two reportable segments: Account Services and Processing and Settlement Services. Each segment is comprised of multiple "revenue divisions" that each focus on a distinct set of products or distribution channels, as follows:

Account Services    

Consumer Accounts

We offer several deposit account programs that can be acquired through our omni-channel distribution platform. These products include:

Green Dot Direct

We also offer GPR cards, checking accounts products and secured credit cards directly to consumers through several different online direct-to-consumer websites. Our direct-to-consumer websites include: greendot.com; walmartmoneycard.com; rushcard.com; accountnow.com; achievecard.com; gobank.com; and ReadyDebit.com.

Consumer Credit Card

We offer a secured credit card nationwide on a direct-to-consumer basis via both greendot.com/platinum and securedcardchoice.com. Our fairly-price secured credit cards are designed to help people establish or rehabilitate their national credit bureau score. The credit line offered to the customer is backed by the customer's own security deposit

held on deposit at Green Dot Bank or other banks in accounts held under our control. As such, we have no risk of material loss resulting from the customer's non-payment of their obligation. As the customer successfully uses their credit card and repays their obligations in accordance with the card's terms and conditions, that successful repayment history is reported to the national credit bureaus which, in turn, can help improve the customer's overall credit score. Customers have the option of funding their security deposits with cash and making monthly payments at Green Dot Network retail locations.

PayCard and Corporate Disbursement

We offer payroll cards and other wage disbursement services to over 2,500 corporate customers, such as Einstein Bagels, Nordstrom and Rite Aid. Our solutions address both the W-2 and 1099 work force.

Green Dot Bank

Through our subsidiary bank, Green Dot Bank, we offer issuing, settlement and capital management services principally to support those applicable products across all six revenue divisions in both reporting segments. Our banking services include:

Green Dot Bank also generates interest income through management of its capital and the increasing deposits it receives in respect of our products and services as well as the products and services we enable for BaaS platform partners.

Products within our Account Services segment are generally issued by Green Dot Bank. As a result of acquisitions over the past few years, we also manage programs issued by third-party issuing banks.

Processing and Settlement Services    

Money Processing

We offer several products and services that all specialize in facilitating the movement of funds on behalf of consumers and businesses. These products and services include:

Tax Processing

We offer several services designed for participants in the tax industry. Those services include:

Financial information regarding our segments and the products and services thereunder are included in the information set forth in Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations and Note 23 - Segment Information of the consolidated financial statements contained in Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.

Our Relationship with Walmart

Walmart is our largest retail distributor. Green Dot Corporation has been the provider of Walmart-branded GPR cards sold at Walmart since the initiation of the Walmart MoneyCard program in 2007, and Green Dot Bank has been the issuer of those card accounts since early 2014. Pursuant to our agreement with Walmart, Green Dot designs and delivers the Walmart MoneyCard product and provides all ongoing program support, including network IT, regulatory and legal compliance, website functionality, customer service and loss management. Walmart provides us with shelf space to display and offer the card accounts to consumers. As the issuing bank, Green Dot Bank holds the associated FDIC-insured deposits. All Walmart MoneyCard products are reloadable exclusively on the Green Dot Network. In addition to Walmart MoneyCards, we offer our Green Dot-branded cards and our GoBank checking account product at Walmart, providing consumers the choice to purchase either Green Dot-branded products or Walmart MoneyCard products. Our operating revenues derived from the several products and services we offer through Walmart stores and other Walmart distribution avenues in aggregate represented approximately 40% , 45% , and 46% of our total operating revenues for the years ended December 31, 2017 , 2016 , and 2015 , respectively.

Seasonality

In the industries for prepaid financial services and tax refund processing, companies commonly experience seasonal fluctuations in revenue. For example, in recent years, our results of operations for the first half of each year have been favorably affected by large numbers of taxpayers electing to receive their tax refunds via direct deposit on our cards, which caused our operating revenues to be typically higher in the first halves of those years than they were in the corresponding second halves of those years. Additionally, our tax refund processing services business is highly seasonal as it generates the substantial majority of its revenue in the first quarter, and substantially all of its revenue in the first half of each calendar year. We expect our revenue to continue to fluctuate based on seasonal factors that affect the prepaid financial services and tax refund processing industries as a whole.

Competition

Our core businesses include the offering of prepaid cards of various types and for various purposes, checking accounts and debit cards and various types of financial technology and transaction processing services to a wide range of consumers through broad-based, national distribution platform. Consequently, we compete against companies across the retail banking, financial services, transaction processing, consumer technology and financial technology services industries. In addition to the direct competitors described below, we compete for access to retail distribution channels, allocation of shelf space within those retail distributors, and for the attention of consumers at the retail level and online. Furthermore, many of our competitors are entities substantially larger in size, more highly diversified in revenue and substantially more established in age with significantly more broadly known brand awareness than ours. As such, many of our competitors can leverage their size, financial wherewithal, brand awareness, pricing power and technological assets to compete with us.

Prepaid Card Issuance and Program Management

We offer deposit account card programs that directly compete with other banks that issue prepaid cards and other program managers that provide turn-key services for prepaid card programs. Primary competitors in this business include traditional credit, debit and prepaid card account issuers and prepaid card program managers like Chase, USBank, American Express, First Data, NetSpend/TSYS, InComm, Western Union, MoneyGram, and Blackhawk Network Inc. In addition, from time to time, new entrants introduce prepaid card products or other products that seek to target similar customers that could increase competition in this market. We also provide program management and other capabilities to our platform partners utilizing our BaaS platform and may compete with others in the market who may now provide or may in the future provide a similar offering.

Money Processing

We offer our POS swipe reload proprietary products, which enable cash loading and transfer services through our Green Dot Network. We also offer wage and other disbursement services through our Simply Paid platform. A growing number of companies are attempting to establish and grow their own money processing networks. In this market, new companies, or alliances among existing companies, may be formed that rapidly achieve a significant market position. Many of these companies are substantially larger than we are and have greater resources, larger and more diversified customer bases and greater name recognition than we do. Our primary competitors in the reload network services market are: Visa, Western Union, MoneyGram, Blackhawk Network, Inc., and InComm. Visa has broad brand recognition and a large base of merchant acquiring and card issuing banks. Western Union, MoneyGram, Blackhawk Network, Inc., and InComm 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.

Tax Refund Processing

Our tax refund processing services compete directly with similar processing technologies and settlement capabilities offered by companies such as Refundo, Refund Advantage, Republic Bank and others. Furthermore, other entities, like Jackson Hewitt and H&R Block, have either fully or partially internally-developed processing and settlement capabilities to self-provide services similar to ours. It is possible that our current or potentially new distribution partners may seek to develop their own internal capabilities that compete with our tax refund processing services.

Consumer Banking Services

With our GoBank and 5% Cash-Back Visa Debit Card products, we have expanded into the market for consumer checking accounts. In this market we compete against a wide range of both traditional and non-traditional banks, including the largest banks. Many of these banks have greater resources, larger and more diversified customer bases and greater brand recognition than we do. Many of these banks also have other assets that could give them an advantage, including broader ranges of product offerings and/or retail branch networks. We believe that our consumer checking account products are differentiated by their innovative technological features, innovative distribution model, consumer-friendly pricing, and branding.

Intellectual Property

We rely on a combination of patent, trademark and copyright laws and trade secret protections in the United States, as well as confidentiality procedures and contractual provisions, to protect the intellectual property rights related to our products and services.

We own several trademarks, including Green Dot and GoBank. Through agreements with our network acceptance members, retail distributors and customers, we authorize and monitor the use of our trademarks in connection with their activities with us.

Our patent portfolio currently consists of 11 issued patents and 14 patent applications pending. The term of the patents we hold is, on average, twenty years. We feel our patents and applications are important to our business and help to differentiate our products and services from those of our competitors.

The industries in which we compete are characterized by rapidly changing technology, a large number of patents, and frequent claims and related litigation regarding patent and other intellectual property rights. There can be no assurance that our patents and other proprietary rights will not be challenged, invalidated, or circumvented; that others will not assert intellectual property rights to technologies that are relevant to us; or that our rights will give us a competitive advantage. In addition, the laws of some foreign countries may not protect our proprietary rights to the same extent as the laws of the United States. The risks associated with patents and intellectual property are more fully discussed in "Item 1A. Risk Factors," including the risk factors entitled " We must adequately protect our brand and our intellectual property rights related to our products and services and avoid infringing on the proprietary rights of others ," and " We must be able to operate and scale our technology effectively."

Regulation

Compliance with legal and regulatory requirements is a highly complex and integral part of our day-to-day operations. Our products and services are generally subject to federal, state and local laws and regulations, including:

These laws are often evolving and the extent to which they apply to us, our subsidiary bank or the banks that issue our cards, our retail distributors, our tax preparation partners, our network acceptance members or our third-party processors is at times unclear. Any failure to comply with applicable law - either by us or by the card issuing banks, retail distributors, tax preparation partners, network acceptance members or third-party processors, over which we have limited legal and practical control - could result in restrictions on our ability to provide our products and services, as well as the imposition of civil fines and criminal penalties and the suspension or revocation of a license or registration required to sell our products and services.

We continually monitor and enhance our compliance program to stay current with the most recent legal and regulatory changes. We also continue to implement policies and programs and to adapt our business practices and strategies to help us comply with current legal standards, as well as with new and changing legal requirements affecting particular services or the conduct of our business generally. These programs include dedicated compliance personnel and training and monitoring programs, as well as support and guidance to our business partners on matters of regulatory compliance programs and best practices.

Anti-Money Laundering Laws

Our products and services are generally subject to federal anti-money laundering laws, including the Bank Secrecy Act, as amended by the USA PATRIOT Act, and similar state laws. On an ongoing basis, these laws require us, among other things, to:

Anti-money laundering regulations are constantly evolving. We continuously monitor our compliance with anti-money laundering regulations and implement policies and procedures in order to comply with the most current legal requirements. We cannot predict how these future regulations might affect us. Complying with future regulation could be expensive or require us to change the way we operate our business.

We are registered with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN, as a money services business. As a result of being so registered, we have established anti-money laundering compliance programs that include: (i) internal policies and controls; (ii) designation of a compliance officer; (iii) ongoing employee training and (iv) an independent review function. We have developed and implemented compliance programs comprised of policies, procedures, systems and internal controls to monitor and address various legal requirements and developments. To assist in managing and monitoring money laundering risks, we continue to enhance our anti-money laundering compliance program. We offer our services largely through our retail distributor and network acceptance member relationships. We have developed an anti-money laundering training manual and a program to assist in educating our retail distributors on applicable anti-money laundering laws and regulations.

Money Transmitter Licensing Regulations

We are subject to money transmitter licensing regulations. We have obtained licenses to operate as a money transmitter in 41 states, Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C.. The remaining U.S. jurisdictions either do not currently regulate money transmitters or the money transmitter laws of those jurisdictions do not require us to obtain a license

in connection with the conduct of our business. As a licensee, we are subject to certain restrictions and requirements, including reporting, net worth and surety bonding requirements and requirements for regulatory approval of controlling stockholders, agent locations and consumer forms and disclosures. Many states require that we must at all times maintain cash and highly rated investment securities in an amount equivalent to all outstanding settlement obligations. We are also subject to inspection by the regulators in the jurisdictions in which we are licensed, many of which conduct regular examinations.

Escheatment Laws

Unclaimed property laws of every U.S. jurisdiction require that we track certain information on our card products and services and that, if customer funds are unclaimed at the end of an applicable statutory abandonment period, the proceeds of the unclaimed property be remitted to the appropriate jurisdiction. We manage escheatment law compliance with respect to our card products and services and have an ongoing program to comply with those laws. Statutory abandonment periods applicable to our card products and services typically range from three to seven years.

Privacy and Information Safeguard Laws

In the ordinary course of our business, we collect certain types of data, which subjects us to certain privacy and information security laws in the United States, including, for example, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999, or the GLB Act, and other laws or rules designed to regulate consumer information and mitigate identity theft. We are also subject to privacy laws of various states. These state and federal laws impose obligations with respect to the collection, processing, storage, disposal, use and disclosure of personal information, and require that financial institutions have in place policies regarding information privacy and security. In addition, under federal and certain state financial privacy laws, we must provide notice to consumers of our policies and practices for sharing nonpublic information with third parties, provide advance notice of any changes to our policies and, with limited exceptions, give consumers the right to prevent use of their nonpublic personal information and disclosure of it to unaffiliated third parties. Certain state laws may, in some circumstances, require us to notify affected individuals of security breaches of computer databases that contain their personal information. These laws may also require us to notify state law enforcement, regulators or consumer reporting agencies in the event of a data breach, as well as businesses and governmental agencies that own data. In order to comply with the privacy and information safeguard laws, we have confidentiality/information security standards and procedures in place for our business activities and with network acceptance members and our third-party vendors and service providers. Privacy and information security laws evolve regularly, requiring us to adjust our compliance program on an ongoing basis and presenting compliance challenges.

Banking Regulations

We became a bank holding company in December 2011, as a result of our acquisition of Bonneville Bancorp, the holding company of Bonneville Bank, a state-chartered Utah bank, which was renamed Green Dot Bank after the acquisition. We and our subsidiary bank are extensively regulated under federal and state laws, which, in general, results in increased compliance costs and other expenses, as we and our subsidiary bank are required to undergo regular on-site examinations and to comply with additional reporting requirements. As a bank holding company, we are subject to the supervision of, and inspection by, the Federal Reserve Board and the State of Utah Department of Financial Institutions and are subject to certain regulations which, among other things, restrict our business and the activities in which we may engage.

Activities. Federal laws restrict the types of activities in which bank holding companies may engage, and subject them to a range of supervisory requirements, including regulatory enforcement actions for violations of laws and policies. Bank holding companies may engage in the business of banking and managing and controlling banks, as well as closely related activities. In addition, financial holding companies may engage in a wider set of activities, including with respect to securities activities and investments in companies engaged in nonbanking activities. The business activities that we currently conduct are permissible activities for bank holding companies under U.S. law, and we do not expect the limitations described above will adversely affect our current operations or materially restrict us from engaging in activities that are currently contemplated by our business strategies. It is possible, however, that these restrictions could limit our ability to enter other businesses in which we may wish to engage at some time in the future. It is also possible that in the future these laws may be amended in ways, or new laws or regulations may be adopted, that adversely affect our ability to engage in our current or additional businesses.

Even if our activities are permissible for a bank holding company, as discussed under "- Capital Adequacy" below, the Federal Reserve Board has the authority to order a bank holding company or its subsidiaries to terminate any activity or to require divestiture of ownership or control of a subsidiary in the event that it has reasonable cause to believe that the activity or continued ownership or control poses a serious risk to the financial safety, soundness or stability of the bank holding company or any of its bank subsidiaries.

Dividend Restrictions. Bank holding companies are subject to various restrictions that may affect their ability to pay dividends. Federal and state banking regulations applicable to bank holding companies and banks generally require that dividends be paid from earnings and, as described under "- Capital Adequacy" below, require minimum levels of capital, which limits the funds available for payment of dividends. Other restrictions include the Federal Reserve Board's general policy that bank holding companies should pay cash dividends on common stock only out of net income available to stockholders for the preceding year or four quarters and only if the prospective rate of earnings retention is consistent with the organization's expected future needs and financial condition, including the needs of each of its bank subsidiaries. In the current financial and economic environment, the Federal Reserve Board has indicated that bank holding companies should carefully review their dividend policies and has discouraged dividend pay-out ratios that are at the 100% level unless both their asset quality and capital are very strong. A bank holding company also should not maintain a dividend level that places undue pressure on the capital of its bank subsidiaries, or that may undermine the bank holding company's ability to serve as a source of strength for its bank subsidiaries. See "- Source of Strength" below.

Capital Adequacy. Bank holding companies and banks are subject to various requirements relating to capital adequacy, including limitations on leverage. As a bank holding company that is a financial holding company, we are required to be "well-capitalized," meaning we must maintain certain capital and leverage requirements. Our subsidiary bank is also subject to separate liquidity requirements that we have committed to with the Federal Reserve Board and Utah Department of Financial Institutions. As of December 31, 2017 , we and our subsidiary bank are each "well-capitalized" under the above standards and presently exceed our respective capital and leverage commitments.

Under the regulatory framework that Congress has established and bank regulators have implemented, banks are either "well-capitalized," "adequately capitalized," "undercapitalized," "significantly undercapitalized" or "critically undercapitalized." Banks are generally subject to greater restrictions and supervision than bank holding companies, and these restrictions increase as the financial condition of the bank worsens. For instance, a bank that is not well-capitalized may not accept, renew or roll over brokered deposits without the consent of the FDIC. If our subsidiary bank were to become less than adequately capitalized, the bank would need to submit to bank regulators a capital restoration plan that was guaranteed by us, as its bank holding company. The bank would also likely become subject to further restrictions on activities, such as entering into new lines of business, or would be required to conduct activities that have the effect of limiting asset growth or preventing acquisitions. A bank that is undercapitalized would also be prohibited from making capital distributions, including dividends, and from paying management fees to its bank holding company if the institution would be undercapitalized after any such distribution or payment. A significantly undercapitalized institution would be subject to mandatory capital raising activities, restrictions on interest rates paid and transactions with affiliates, removal of management and other restrictions. The FDIC has only very limited discretion in dealing with a critically undercapitalized institution and is virtually required to appoint a receiver or conservator.

For more information on regulatory capital rules and capital composition, see "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations -- Capital Management" below and  Note 21 - Regulatory Requirements to the Consolidated Financial Statements included herein, which are incorporated by reference in this Item 1.

Source of Strength. Under Federal Reserve Board policy, bank holding companies are expected to act as a source of strength to their bank subsidiaries and to commit resources to support each such subsidiary. This support may theoretically be required by the Federal Reserve Board at times when the bank holding company might otherwise determine not to provide it. As noted above, if a bank becomes less than adequately capitalized, it would need to submit an acceptable capital restoration plan that, in order to be acceptable, would need to be guaranteed by the parent holding company. In the event of a bank holding company's bankruptcy, any commitment by the bank holding company to a federal bank regulator to maintain the capital of a subsidiary bank would be assumed by the bankruptcy trustee and entitled to a priority of payment. In addition, under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, or the Dodd-Frank Act, the Federal Reserve Board is required to adopt new regulations formally requiring bank holding companies to serve as a source of strength to their subsidiary depository institutions. The Federal Reserve Board has not yet proposed rules to implement this requirement.

Acquisitions of Bank Holding Companies. Under the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956, as amended (the "BHC Act") and the Change in Bank Control Act, and their respective implementing regulations, Federal Reserve Board approval is necessary prior to any person or company acquiring control of a bank or bank holding company, subject to certain exceptions. Control is conclusively presumed to exist if an individual or company acquires 25% or more of any class of voting securities, and may be presumed to exist if a person acquires 10% or more of any class of voting securities. These restrictions could affect the willingness or ability of a third party to acquire control of us for so long as we are a bank holding company particularly if the third party was not also a bank holding company.

Deposit Insurance and Deposit Insurance Assessments. Deposits accepted by banks, such as our subsidiary bank, have the benefit of FDIC insurance up to the applicable limits. The FDIC's Deposit Insurance Fund is funded by assessments on insured depository institutions, the level of which depends on the risk category of an institution and the amount of insured deposits that it holds. These rates currently range from 1.5 to 40 basis points on deposits. The FDIC may increase or decrease the assessment rate schedule, and has in the past required and may in the future require banks to prepay their estimated assessments for future periods. The Dodd-Frank Act changes the method of calculating deposit assessments, requiring the FDIC to assess premiums on the basis of assets less tangible stockholders' equity. The FDIC has indicated that this change will likely result in a lower assessment rate because of the larger assessment base.

Community Reinvestment Act. The Community Reinvestment Act of 1977, or CRA, and the regulations promulgated by the FDIC to implement the CRA are intended to ensure that banks meet the credit needs of their respective service areas, including low and moderate income communities and individuals, consistent with safe and sound banking practices. The CRA regulations also require the banking regulatory authorities to evaluate a bank's record in meeting the needs of its service area when considering applications to establish new offices or consummate any merger or acquisition transaction. The federal banking agencies are required to rate each insured institution's performance under the CRA and to make that information publicly available. Our subsidiary bank currently complies with the CRA through investments and other activities that are designed to benefit the needs of low and moderate income communities.

Restrictions on Transactions with Affiliates and Insiders. Transactions between a bank and its nonbanking affiliates are regulated by the Federal Reserve Board. These regulations limit the types and amount of these transactions, require certain levels of collateral for loans to affiliated parties and generally require those transactions to be on an arm's-length basis. As a bank holding company, transactions between Green Dot Bank and us, including our nonbanking subsidiaries, are limited by these regulations, although we do not anticipate that these restrictions will adversely affect our ability to conduct our current operations or materially prohibit us from engaging in activities that are currently contemplated by our business strategies.

Issuing Banks . All of the GPR cards that we provide and the Walmart gift cards we service are issued by Green Dot Bank or either a federally- or state-chartered third-party bank. Thus, we are subject to the oversight of the regulators for, and certain laws applicable to, these card issuing banks. These banking laws require us, as a servicer to the banks that issue our cards, to among other things, undertake compliance actions similar to those described under "Anti-Money Laundering Laws" above and comply with the privacy regulations promulgated under the GLB Act as discussed under "Privacy and Information Safeguard Laws" above. Our subsidiary bank is subject to the additional regulatory oversight and legal obligations described above, in its capacity as issuing bank of our GPR cards.

Other. The policies of regulatory authorities, including the monetary policy of the Federal Reserve Board, have a significant effect on the operating results of bank holding companies and their subsidiaries. Moreover, additional changes to banking laws and regulations are possible in the near future.

Consumer Protection Laws

We are subject to state and federal consumer protection laws, including laws prohibiting unfair and deceptive practices, regulating electronic fund transfers and protecting consumer nonpublic information. We believe that we have appropriate procedures in place for compliance with these consumer protection laws, but many issues regarding our service have not yet been addressed by the federal and state agencies charged with interpreting the applicable laws.

In order to permit the direct deposit of Federal benefits and other Federal funds to our products, we comply with the requirements of the Electronic Fund Transfer Act of the Federal Reserve Board, or Regulation E, as they relate to payroll cards, including disclosure of the terms of our electronic fund transfer services to consumers prior to their use of the service, 21 days ' advance notice of material changes, specific error resolution procedures and timetables, and limits on customer liability for transactions that are not authorized by the consumer.

State and federal legislators and regulatory authorities are increasingly focused on the banking and consumer financial services industries, and may propose and adopt new legislation that could result in significant adverse changes in the regulatory landscape for financial institutions and financial services companies. If new regulations or laws result in changes in the way we are regulated, these regulations could expose us to increased regulatory oversight, more burdensome regulation of our business, and increased litigation risk, each of which could increase our costs and decrease our operating revenues. Furthermore, limitations placed on fees we charge or the disclosures that must be provided with respect to our products and services could increase our costs and decrease our operating revenues.

Payment Networks

In order to provide our products and services, we, as well as our subsidiary bank, Green Dot Bank, are contracted members with Visa and MasterCard and, as a result, are subject to payment network rules that could subject us to a

variety of fines or penalties that may be levied by the payment networks for certain acts or omissions. Visa and MasterCard set the standards with which we and the card issuing banks must comply.

Employees

As of December 31, 2017 , we had 1,152 employees, including 587 in general and administrative, 53 in sales and marketing, and 512 in research and product development. None of our employees is represented by a labor union or is covered by a collective bargaining agreement. We have never experienced any employment-related work stoppages and consider relations with our employees to be good.

Other Information

We were incorporated in Delaware in 1999 and became a bank holding company under the BHC Act and a member bank of the Federal Reserve System in December 2011.

Our principal executive offices are located at 3465 East Foothill Boulevard, Pasadena, California 91107, and our telephone number is (626) 765-2000.

We maintain a website at www.greendot.com. We make available free of charge, on or through our website via the Investor Relations section at ir.greendot.com, our annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, and all amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act as soon as reasonably practicable after filing such material electronically or otherwise furnishing it to the Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC. References to website addresses in this report are intended to be inactive textual references only, and none of the information contained on our website is part of this report or incorporated in this report by reference.

ITEM 1A. Risk Factors

Risks Related to Our Business

Our operating results may fluctuate in the future, which could cause our stock price to decline.

Our quarterly and annual results of operations may fluctuate in the future as a result of a variety of factors, many of which are outside of our control. If our results of operations fall below the expectations of investors or any securities analysts who follow our Class A common stock, the trading price of our Class A common stock could decline substantially. Fluctuations in our quarterly or annual results of operations might result from a number of factors, including, but not limited to:

The loss of operating revenues from Walmart or any of our largest retail distributors would adversely affect our business.

Most of our operating revenues are derived from prepaid financial services sold at our four largest retail distributors. As a percentage of total operating revenues, operating revenues derived from products and services sold at the store locations of Walmart was approximately 40% for the year ended December 31, 2017 . We expect that Walmart will continue to have a significant impact on our operating revenues in future periods, particularly in our Account Services segment. It would be difficult to replace Walmart and the operating revenues derived from products and services sold at their stores. Accordingly, the loss of Walmart would have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations. In addition, any publicity associated with the loss of any of our large retail distributors could harm our reputation, making it more difficult to attract and retain consumers and other retail distributors, and could lessen our negotiating power with our remaining and prospective retail distributors.

The term of our Walmart Money Card agreement (which governs the MoneyCard program) expires on May 1, 2020, unless renewed under its automatic renewal provision which provide for a two-year extension. Our contracts with our three other largest retail distributors have terms that expire at various dates through 2021. Our contracts with Walmart and our three other largest retail distributors can in limited circumstances, such as our material breach or insolvency or, in the case of Walmart, our failure to meet agreed-upon service levels, certain changes in control, and our inability or unwillingness to agree to requested pricing changes, be terminated by these retail distributors on relatively short notice. There can be no assurance that we will be able to continue our relationships with our largest retail distributors on the same or more favorable terms in future periods or that our relationships will continue beyond the terms of our existing contracts with them. Our operating revenues and results of operations could suffer if, among other things, any of our retail distributors renegotiates, terminates or fails to renew, or to renew on similar or favorable terms, its agreement with us or otherwise chooses to modify the level of support it provides for our products.

Our base of tax preparation partners is concentrated and the performance of our Processing and Settlement Services segment depends in part on our ability to retain existing partners.

If one or more of our major tax preparation partners were to substantially reduce or stop offering our services to their customers, our tax refund processing services business, a component of our Processing and Settlement Services segment, results of operations and financial condition would be harmed. Substantially all the revenues we generate from our tax refund processing services business have come from sales through a relatively small number of tax preparation firms. We do not have long-term contractual commitments from any of our current tax preparation partners and our tax preparation partners may elect to not renew their contracts with us with little or no advance notice. As a result, we cannot be assured that any of our current tax preparation partners will continue to partner with us past the terms in their current agreements. A termination of our relationships with certain tax preparation partners that provide commercial tax preparation software would result in lost revenue and the loss of the ability to secure future relationships with new or existing tax preparation firms that use such tax software.

Our future success depends upon the active and effective promotion of our products and services by retail distributors and tax preparation partners, but their interests and operational decisions might not always align with our interests.

Most of our operating revenues are derived from our products and services sold at the stores of our retail distributors. In addition, a large portion of our Processing and Settlement Services revenues are dependent on tax preparation partners as the revenues we generate from our tax refund processing services are largely derived from products and services sold through retail tax preparation businesses and income tax software providers. Revenues from our retail distributors and tax preparation partners depend on a number of factors outside our control and may vary from period to period. Because we compete with many other providers of products and services, including competing prepaid cards and tax refund processing services, for placement and promotion of products in the stores of our retail distributors or in conjunction with the delivery of tax preparation services by our tax preparation providers, our success depends on our retail distributors and tax preparation partners and their willingness to promote our products and services successfully. In general, our contracts with these third parties allow them to exercise significant discretion over the placement and promotion of our products and services; they could give higher priority to the products and services of other companies for a variety of reasons. Accordingly, losing the support of our retail distributors and tax preparation partners might limit or reduce the sales of our products and services. Our operating revenues and operating expenses may also be negatively affected by operational decisions by our retail distributors and tax preparation partners. For example, if a retail distributor reduces shelf space for our products or implements changes in its systems that disrupt the integration between its systems and ours, our product sales could be reduced or decline and we may incur additional merchandising costs to ensure our products are appropriately stocked. Similarly, for a variety of reasons, many of our tax preparation partners that provide commercial income tax preparation software offer their customers several types for tax refund processing services, including those of our competitors. Even if our retail distributors and tax preparation

partners actively and effectively promote our products and services, there can be no assurance that their efforts will maintain or result in growth of our operating revenues.

We make significant investments in products and services that may not be successful.

Our prospects for growth depend on our ability to innovate by offering new, and adding value to our existing, product and service offerings and on our ability to effectively commercialize such innovations. We will continue to make investments in research, development, and marketing for new products and services, such as these or others. Investments in new products and services are speculative. Commercial success depends on many factors, including innovativeness, price, the competitive environment and effective distribution and marketing. If customers do not perceive our new offerings as providing significant value, they may fail to accept our new products and services, which would negatively impact our operating revenues. We may not achieve significant operating revenues from new product and service investments for a number of years, if at all. Moreover, new products and services may not be profitable, and even if they are profitable, operating margins for new products and services may not be as high as the margins we have experienced in the past.

Our operating revenues for a particular period are difficult to predict, and a shortfall in our operating revenues may harm our results of operations.

Our operating revenues for a particular period are difficult to predict. Our total operating revenues may decline or grow at a slower rate than in prior periods. Our ability to meet financial expectations could be adversely affected by various factors, such as delays in implementing or realizing expected benefits from revenue growth activities and BaaS programs, increased competition within the store locations of many of our largest retail distributors and reputational damage and unreimbursed losses associated with disruption in the performance of our products and services.

Our ability to increase card usage and cardholder retention and to attract new long-term users of our products can also have a significant effect on our operating revenues. We may be unable to generate increases in card usage, cardholder retention or attract new long-term users of our products for a number of reasons, including our inability to maintain our existing distribution channels, the failure of our cardholder retention and usage incentives to influence cardholder behavior, our inability to predict accurately consumer preferences or industry changes and to modify our products and services on a timely basis in response thereto, and our inability to produce new features and services that appeal to existing and prospective customers. As a result, our results of operations could vary materially from period to period based on the degree to which we are successful in increasing card usage and cardholder retention and attracting long-term users of our products.

Either of the above factors could have a material adverse impact on our business, operating results and financial condition.

Seasonal fluctuations in the use of our products and services impact our results of operations and cash flows.

Our results of operations and cash flows vary from quarter to quarter, and periodically decline, due to the seasonal nature of the use of our products and services. For example, in recent years, our results of operations for the first half of each year have been favorably affected by large numbers of taxpayers electing to receive their tax refunds via direct deposit on our cards, which caused our operating revenues to be typically higher in the first halves of those years than they were in the corresponding second halves of those years. Our tax refund processing services business is also highly seasonal as it generates the substantial majority of its revenue in the first quarter, and substantially all of its revenue in the first half of each calendar year. Additionally, beginning in the first quarter of 2018, we expect our new business relationship with Intuit's TurboTax software to be an incremental driver of active cards and revenue for our Account Services segment, particularly during tax season. To the extent that seasonal fluctuations become more pronounced, or are not offset by other factors, our results of operations and cash flows from operating activities could fluctuate materially from period to period.

The industries in which we compete are highly competitive, which could adversely affect our results of operations.

The prepaid financial services and tax refund services industries are highly competitive and include a variety of financial and non-financial services vendors. We expect conditions in the markets in which we compete will remain highly competitive. For example, Walmart, CVS and other retail distributors have been selling competitive products at their store locations for the past several years. Competition is expected to negatively impact our operating revenues, and could cause us to compete on the basis of price or increase our sales and marketing expenses, any of which would likely seriously harm our business, results of operations and financial condition. Our current and potential competitors include:

Some of these vendors compete with us in more than one of the vendor categories described above, while others are primarily focused in a single category. In addition, competitors in one category have worked or are working with competitors in other categories to compete with us. We also face actual and potential competition from retail distributors or from other companies that have decided or may in the future decide to compete, or compete more aggressively, in the prepaid financial services industry. Similarly, some of our tax preparation partners have developed or may seek to develop their own products and services that compete with our tax refund processing services.

We also compete with businesses outside of the prepaid financial services industry, including traditional providers of financial services, such as banks that offer demand deposit accounts and card issuers that offer credit cards, private label retail cards and gift cards. In particular, our GoBank and secured card products are designed to compete directly with traditional service providers, such as banks and credit card companies, by providing products and services that they have traditionally provided. These and other competitors in the larger electronic payments industry are introducing innovative products and services that may compete with ours. We expect that this competition will continue as the prepaid financial services industry and the larger banking and electronic payments industry continues to evolve. We also expect to compete with businesses outside the traditional tax refund processing services industry in the future as new entrants seek to develop software solutions that may replace the need for our tax refund processing services.

Many existing and potential competitors have longer operating histories and greater name recognition than we do. In addition, many of our existing and potential competitors are substantially larger than we are, may already have or could develop substantially greater financial and other resources than we have, may offer, develop or introduce a wider range of programs and services than we offer or may use more effective advertising and marketing strategies than we do to achieve broader brand recognition, customer awareness and retail penetration. We could also experience increased price competition. If this happens, we expect that the purchase and use of our products and services would decline. If price competition materially intensifies, we may have to increase the incentives that we offer to our retail distributors and our tax preparation partners and decrease the prices of our products and services, any of which would likely adversely affect our results of operations.

Our long-term success depends on our ability to compete effectively against existing and potential competitors that seek to provide prepaid cards or other electronic payment products and services or tax refund processing services. If we fail to compete effectively against these competitors, our revenues, results of operations, prospects for future growth and overall business could be materially and adversely affected.

Acquisitions or investments could disrupt our business and harm our financial condition.

We have in the past acquired, and we expect to acquire in the future, other businesses and technologies. The process of integrating an acquired business, product, service or technology can involve a number of special risks and challenges, including:

If we are unable to successfully integrate an acquired business or technology or otherwise address these special risks and challenges or other problems encountered in connection with an acquisition, we might not realize the anticipated benefits of that acquisition, we might incur unanticipated liabilities or we might otherwise suffer harm to our business generally. Unanticipated costs, delays or other operational or financial problems related to integrating the acquired company and business with our company may result in the diversion of our management's attention from other business issues and opportunities. To integrate acquired businesses, we must implement our technology systems in the acquired operations and integrate and manage the personnel of the acquired operations. We also must effectively integrate the different cultures of acquired business organizations into our own in a way that aligns various interests, and may need to enter new markets in which we have no or limited experience and where competitors in such markets have stronger market positions. Failures or difficulties in integrating the operations of the businesses that we acquire, including their personnel, technology, compliance programs, risk management systems, financial systems, distribution and general business operations and procedures, marketing, promotion and other relationships, may affect our ability to grow and may result in us incurring asset impairment or restructuring charges. Furthermore, acquisitions and investments are often speculative in nature and the actual benefits we derive from them could be lower or take longer to materialize than we expect.

To the extent we pay the consideration for any future acquisitions or investments in cash, it would reduce the amount of cash available to us for other purposes. Future acquisitions or investments could also result in dilutive issuances of our equity securities or the incurrence of debt, contingent liabilities, amortization expenses, or goodwill impairment charges, any of which could harm our financial condition and negatively impact our stockholders.

Fraudulent and other illegal activity involving our products and services could lead to reputational damage to us, reduce the use and acceptance of our cards and reload network, reduce the use of our tax refund processing services, and may adversely affect our financial position and results of operations.

Criminals are using increasingly sophisticated methods to engage in illegal activities involving prepaid cards, reload products, checking accounts or customer information. Illegal activities involving our products and services often include malicious social engineering schemes, where people are asked to provide a prepaid card or reload product in order to obtain a loan or purchase goods or services. Illegal activities may also include fraudulent payment or refund schemes and identity theft. We rely upon third parties for transaction processing services, which subjects us and our customers to risks related to the vulnerabilities of those third parties. A single significant incident of fraud, or increases in the overall level of fraud, involving our cards and other products and services, have in the past and could in the future result in reputational damage to us. Such damage could reduce the use and acceptance of our cards and other products and services, cause retail distributors or network acceptance members to cease doing business with us or lead to greater regulation that would increase our compliance costs. Fraudulent activity could also result in the imposition of regulatory sanctions, including significant monetary fines, which could adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.

In addition, to address the challenges we face with respect to fraudulent activity, we have implemented risk control mechanisms that have made it more difficult for all customers, including legitimate customers, to obtain and use our products and services. We believe it is likely that our risk control mechanisms may continue to adversely affect our new card activations from legitimate customers for the foreseeable future and that our operating revenues will be negatively impacted as a result.

As a bank holding company, we are subject to extensive and potentially changing regulation and may be required to serve as a source of strength for Green Dot Bank, which may adversely affect our business, financial position and results of operations.

As a bank holding company, we are subject to comprehensive supervision and examination by the Federal Reserve Board and the State of Utah Department of Financial Institutions and must comply with applicable regulations and other commitments we have agreed to, including financial commitments in respect to minimum capital and leverage requirements. If we fail to comply with any of these requirements, we may become subject to formal or informal enforcement actions, proceedings, or investigations, which could result in regulatory orders, restrictions on our business operations or requirements to take corrective actions, which may, individually or in the aggregate, affect our results of operations and restrict our ability to grow. If we fail to comply with the applicable capital and leverage requirements, or if our subsidiary bank fails to comply with its applicable capital and leverage commitments, the Federal Reserve Board may limit our ability to pay dividends or fund stock repurchases, or if we become less than adequately capitalized, require us to raise additional capital. In addition, as a bank holding company and a financial holding company, we are generally prohibited from engaging, directly or indirectly, in any activities other than those permissible for bank holding

companies and financial holding companies. This restriction might limit our ability to pursue future business opportunities which we might otherwise consider but which might fall outside the scope of permissible activities.

A substantial portion of Green Dot Bank's deposit liabilities are currently classified as brokered deposits, and the failure by Green Dot Bank to maintain its status as a "well-capitalized" institution could have a serious adverse effect on Green Dot Bank's ability to conduct key portions of its current deposit-taking activity.

On January 5, 2015, the FDIC published industry guidance in the form of Frequently Asked Questions ("FAQs") with respect to, among other things, the categorization of deposit liabilities as "brokered" deposits.  This guidance was later supplemented on November 13, 2015, and June 30, 2016. Based on this guidance, a vast majority of Green Dot Bank's deposits are currently classified as brokered. If Green Dot Bank ceases to be categorized as "well capitalized" under banking regulations, it could be prohibited from accepting, renewing or rolling over brokered deposits without the consent of the FDIC. In such a case, the FDIC's refusal to grant consent to our accepting, renewing or rolling over brokered deposits could materially adversely effect the financial condition and operations of Green Dot Bank and the Company and could effectively restrict the ability of Green Dot Bank to operate its business lines as presently conducted.

Changes in laws and regulations to which we are subject, or to which we may become subject, may increase our costs of operation, decrease our operating revenues and disrupt our business.

The provision of banking services, prepaid financial services and tax refund processing services is highly regulated and, from time to time, the laws and regulations affecting these industries, and the manner in which they are interpreted, are subject to change and legal action. Accordingly, changes in laws and regulations or the interpretation or enforcement thereof may occur that could increase our compliance and other costs of doing business, require significant systems redevelopment, or render our products or services less profitable or obsolete, any of which could have an adverse effect on our results of operations. For example, we could face more stringent anti-money laundering rules and regulations, as well as more stringent licensing rules and regulations, compliance with which could be expensive and time consuming. In addition, adverse rulings relating to the industries in which we participate could cause our products and services to be subject to additional laws and regulations, which could make our products and services less profitable.

If additional regulatory requirements were imposed on the sale of our products and services and our bank, the requirements could lead to a loss of retail distributors, tax preparation partners or other business partners, which, in turn, could materially and adversely impact our operations. Moreover, if our products are adversely impacted by the interpretation or enforcement of these regulations or we or any of our retail distributors or tax preparation partners were unwilling or unable to make any such operational changes to comply with the interpretation or enforcement thereof, we would no longer be able to sell our products and services through that noncompliant retail distributor or tax preparation partner, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial position and results of operations.

State and federal legislators and regulatory authorities are increasingly focused on the banking and consumer financial services industries, and may propose and adopt new legislation that could result in significant adverse changes in the regulatory landscape for financial institutions and financial services companies.

If new regulations or laws result in changes in the way we are regulated, these regulations could expose us to increased regulatory oversight, more burdensome regulation of our business, and increased litigation risk, each of which could increase our costs and decrease our operating revenues. Furthermore, limitations placed on fees we charge or the disclosures that must be provided with respect to our products and services could increase our costs and decrease our operating revenues.

Changes in laws and regulations, or our failure to comply with existing laws and regulations, applicable to our tax refund-related services could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, results of operations, and financial condition.

We derive a significant portion of our total operating revenues and earnings from tax refund processing and settlement services. The tax preparation industry is regulated under a variety of statutes in addition to those regulations currently applicable to our prepaid products and services, all of which are subject to change and which may impose significant costs, limitations or prohibitions on the way we conduct or expand our tax refund processing and related services.  In recent years, state legislators, state attorneys general, and regulators have increased their focus on the tax preparation industry including tax refund processing services and the use thereof by tax preparation firms.  Laws making such services less profitable, or even unprofitable, could be passed in any state at any time or existing laws could expire or be amended, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, results of operations, and financial condition. State regulators have broad discretionary power and may impose new requirements, interpret or enforce existing regulatory requirements in different ways or issue new administrative rules, even if not contained in state statutes, and state attorneys general could take actions, that affect the way we offer our

tax refund-related services and may force us to terminate, modify, or cease our operations in particular states. State or federal regulators could also impose rules that are generally adverse to our tax refund-related services. Any new requirements or rules, or new interpretations of existing requirements or rules, or failure to follow requirements or rules, or future lawsuits or rulings, could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, results of operations, and financial condition.

We operate in a highly regulated environment, and failure by us, the banks that issue our cards, the businesses that participate in our reload network, the banks that assist with our tax refund processing services, and our tax preparation partners to comply with applicable laws and regulations could have an adverse effect on our business, financial position and results of operations.

We operate in a highly regulated environment, and failure by us, the banks that issue our cards or the businesses that participate in our reload network or other business partners to comply with the laws and regulations to which we are subject could negatively impact our business. We are subject to state money transmission licensing requirements and a wide range of federal and other state laws and regulations. In particular, our products and services are subject to an increasingly strict set of legal and regulatory requirements intended to protect consumers and to help detect and prevent money laundering, terrorist financing and other illicit activities.

Many of these laws and regulations are evolving, unclear and inconsistent across various jurisdictions, and ensuring compliance with them is difficult and costly. For example, with increasing frequency, federal and state regulators are holding businesses like ours to higher standards of training, monitoring and compliance, including monitoring for possible violations of laws by the businesses that participate in our reload network. Failure by us or those businesses to comply with the laws and regulations to which we are or may become subject could result in fines, penalties or limitations on our ability to conduct our business, or federal or state actions, any of which could significantly harm our reputation with consumers and other network participants, banks that issue our cards and regulators, and could materially and adversely affect our business, operating results and financial condition.

Changes in rules or standards set by the payment networks, such as Visa and MasterCard, or changes in debit network fees or products or interchange rates, could adversely affect our business, financial position and results of operations.

We are subject to association rules that could subject us to a variety of fines or penalties that may be levied by the card associations or networks for acts or omissions by us or businesses that work with us, including card processors, such as MasterCard PTS. The termination of the card association registrations held by us or any changes in card association or other debit network rules or standards, including interpretation and implementation of existing rules or standards, that increase the cost of doing business or limit our ability to provide our products and services could have an adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial condition. In addition, from time to time, card associations may increase the fees that they charge, which could increase our operating expenses, reduce our profit margin and adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.

Furthermore, a substantial portion of our operating revenues is derived from interchange fees. For the year ended December 31, 2017 , interchange revenues represented 29.0 % of our total operating revenues, and we expect interchange revenues to continue to represent a significant percentage of our total operating revenues. The amount of interchange revenues that we earn is highly dependent on the interchange rates that the payment networks set and adjust from time to time.

The enactment of the Dodd-Frank Act required the Federal Reserve Board to implement regulations that have substantially limited interchange fees for many issuers. While the interchange rates that may be earned by us and our subsidiary bank are exempt from the limitations imposed by the Dodd-Frank Act, there can be no assurance that future regulation or changes by the payment networks will not impact our interchange revenues substantially. If interchange rates decline, whether due to actions by the payment networks or future regulation, we would likely need to change our fee structure to offset the loss of interchange revenues. However, our ability to make these changes is limited by the terms of our contracts and other commercial factors, such as price competition. To the extent we increase the pricing of our products and services, we might find it more difficult to acquire consumers and to maintain or grow card usage and customer retention, and we could suffer reputational damage and become subject to greater regulatory scrutiny. We also might have to discontinue certain products or services. As a result, our total operating revenues, operating results, prospects for future growth and overall business could be materially and adversely affected.

Our actual operating results may differ significantly from our guidance.

From time to time, we issue guidance in our quarterly earnings conference calls, or otherwise, regarding our future performance that represents our management's estimates as of the date of release. This guidance, which constitutes forward-looking statements, is based upon a number of management's assumptions and estimates that, while presented with numerical specificity, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies, many of which are beyond our control, and are based upon specific assumptions with respect to future business decisions, some of which will change. While we have stated and we intend to continue to state possible outcomes as high and low ranges that are intended to provide a sensitivity analysis as variables are changed, we can provide no assurances that actual results will not fall outside of the suggested ranges.

The principal reason that we release guidance is to provide a basis for our management to discuss our business outlook with analysts and investors. We do not accept any responsibility for any projections or reports published by any of these persons.

Guidance is necessarily speculative in nature, and it can be expected that some or all of the assumptions underlying the guidance furnished by us will prove to be incorrect or will vary significantly from actual results. For example, on a number of occasions over the last several years we adjusted our revenue guidance when actual results varied from our assumptions. Accordingly, our guidance is only an estimate of what management believes is realizable as of the date of release. Actual results will vary from our guidance and the variations may be material.

Any failure to implement our operating strategy successfully or the occurrence of any of the events or circumstances set forth in this Item 1A could result in our actual operating results being different from our guidance, and such differences may be adverse and material.

We receive important services from third-party vendors. Replacing them would be difficult and disruptive to our business.

Some services relating to our business, including fraud management and other customer verification services, transaction processing and settlement, card production, and customer service, are outsourced to third-party vendors. We also depend on third-party banks to assist with our tax refund processing services. It would be difficult to replace some of our third-party vendors in a timely manner if they were unwilling or unable to provide us with these services during the term of their agreements with us and our business and operations could be adversely affected. In particular, due to the seasonality in our business, any material service interruptions or service delays with key vendors during the tax season could result in losses that have an even greater adverse effect on that business than would be the case with our overall business .

Our business could suffer if there is a decline in the use of prepaid cards as a payment mechanism or there are adverse developments with respect to the prepaid financial services industry in general.

As the prepaid financial services industry evolves, consumers may find prepaid financial services to be less attractive than traditional or other financial services. Consumers might not use prepaid financial services for any number of reasons, including the general perception of our industry. If consumers do not continue or increase their usage of prepaid cards, including making changes in the way prepaid cards are loaded, our operating revenues may remain at current levels or decline. Any projected growth for the industry may not occur or may occur more slowly than estimated. If consumer acceptance of prepaid financial services does not continue to develop or develops more slowly than expected or if there is a shift in the mix of payment forms, such as cash, credit cards, traditional debit cards and prepaid cards, away from our products and services, it could have a material adverse effect on our financial position and results of operations.

Our business is dependent on the efficient and uninterrupted operation of computer network systems and data centers.

Our ability to provide reliable service to customers and other network participants depends on the efficient and uninterrupted operation of our computer network systems and data centers as well as those of our retail distributors, network acceptance members and third-party processors. Our business involves movement of large sums of money, processing of large numbers of transactions and management of the data necessary to do both. Our success in our account programs, including our BaaS programs, as well as our processing and settlement services, depends upon the efficient and error-free handling of the money that is collected, remitted or deposited in connection with the provision of our products and services. We rely on the ability of our employees, systems and processes and those of the banks that issue our cards, our retail distributors, tax refund preparation partners, our network acceptance members, other business partners and third-party processors to process and facilitate these transactions in an efficient, uninterrupted and error-free manner. Their failure to do so could materially and adversely impact our operating revenues and results

of operations, particularly during the tax season, when we derive substantially all of operating revenues for our tax refund processing services and a significant portion of our other operating revenues.

Our systems are susceptible to outages and interruptions due to fire, natural disaster, power loss, telecommunications failures, software or hardware defects, terrorist attacks and similar events. Furthermore, we currently ultilize third-party data center hosting facilities located in the United States and other countries. Interruptions in our service may result for a number of reasons. For example, the data center hosting facilities that we use could be closed without adequate notice or suffer unanticipated problems resulting in lengthy interruptions in our service. Moreover, as we continue to add data centers and add capacity in our existing data centers, we could experience problems transferring customer accounts and data, impairing the delivery of our service. Any damage to, or failure of, our processes or systems generally, or those of our vendors (including as a result of disruptions at our third-party data center hosting facilities), or an improper action by our employees, agents or third-party vendors, could result in interruptions in our service, causing customers, retail distributors and other partners to become dissatisfied with our products and services or obligate us to issue credits or pay fines or other penalties to them. Sustained or repeated process or system failures could reduce the attractiveness of our products and services, including our BaaS platform, and result in contract terminations, thereby reducing operating revenue and harming our results of operations. Further, negative publicity arising from these types of disruptions could be damaging to our reputation and may adversely impact use of our products and services, including our BaaS platform, and adversely affect our ability to attract new customers and business partners. Some of our contracts with retail distributors, including our contract with Walmart, contain service level standards pertaining to the operation of our systems, and provide the retail distributor with the right to collect damages and potentially to terminate its contract with us for system downtime exceeding stated limits. If we face system interruptions or failures, our business interruption insurance may not be adequate to cover the losses or damages that we incur.

A data security breach could expose us to liability and protracted and costly litigation, and could adversely affect our reputation and operating revenues.

We and our retail distributors, tax preparation partners, network acceptance members, third-party processors and the merchants that accept our cards receive, transmit and store confidential customer and other information in connection with the sale and use of our products and services. Our encryption software and the other technologies we use to provide security for storage, processing and transmission of confidential customer and other information may not be effective to protect against data security breaches by third parties. The risk of unauthorized circumvention of our security measures has been heightened by advances in computer capabilities and the increasing sophistication of hackers. Our retail distributors, tax preparation partners, network acceptance members, other business partners, third-party processors and the merchants that accept our cards also may experience similar security breaches involving the receipt, transmission and storage of our confidential customer and other information. Improper access to our or these third parties' systems or databases could result in the theft, publication, deletion or modification of confidential customer and other information.

A data security breach of the systems on which sensitive cardholder or other customer or end-customer data and account information are stored could lead to fraudulent activity involving our products and services, reputational damage and claims or regulatory actions against us. If we are sued in connection with any data security breach, we could be involved in protracted and costly litigation. If unsuccessful in defending that litigation, we might be forced to pay damages and/or change our business practices, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our operating revenues and profitability. We would also likely have to pay (or indemnify the banks that issue our cards for) fines, penalties and/or other assessments imposed by Visa or MasterCard as a result of any data security breach. Further, a significant data security breach could lead to additional regulation, which could impose new and costly compliance obligations. In addition, a data security breach at one of the third-party banks that issue our cards or at our retail distributors, tax preparation partners, network acceptance members, other business partners, third-party processors or the merchants that accept our cards could result in significant reputational harm to us and cause the use and acceptance of our cards or other products and services to decline, either of which could have a significant adverse impact on our operating revenues and future growth prospects. Moreover, it may require substantial financial resources to address and remediate any such breach, including additional costs for replacement cards, manufacturing, distribution, re-stocking fees, fraud monitoring and other added security measures, amongst others, which could have a significant adverse impact on our operating results.

Litigation or investigations could result in significant settlements, fines or penalties.

We are subject to regulatory oversight in the normal course of our business, and have been and from time to time may be subject to securities class actions and other litigation or regulatory or judicial proceedings or investigations. The outcome of litigation and regulatory or judicial proceedings or investigations is difficult to predict. Plaintiffs or regulatory agencies or authorities in these matters may seek recovery of very large or indeterminate amounts, seek

to have aspects of our business suspended or modified or seek to impose sanctions, including significant monetary fines. The monetary and other impact of these actions, litigations, proceedings or investigations may remain unknown for substantial periods of time. The cost to defend, settle or otherwise resolve these matters may be significant. Further, an unfavorable resolution of litigation, proceedings or investigations against us could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results, or financial condition. In this regard, such costs could make it more difficult to maintain the capital, leverage and other financial commitments at levels we have agreed to with the Federal Reserve Board and the Utah Department of Financial Institutions. If regulatory or judicial proceedings or investigations were to be initiated against us by private or governmental entities, adverse publicity that may be associated with these proceedings or investigations could negatively impact our relationships with retail distributors, tax preparation partners, network acceptance members, other business partners and card processors and decrease acceptance and use of, and loyalty to, our products and related services, and could impact the price of our Class A common stock. In addition, such proceedings or investigations could increase the risk that we will be involved in litigation. The outcome of any such litigation is difficult to predict and the cost to defend, settle or otherwise resolve these matters may be significant. For the foregoing reasons, if regulatory or judicial proceedings or investigations were to be initiated against us by private or governmental entities, our business, results of operations and financial condition could be adversely affected or our stock price could decline.

We must adequately protect our brand and our intellectual property rights related to our products and services and avoid infringing on the proprietary rights of others.

The Green Dot, GoBank, MoneyPak, TPG and other brands and marks are important to our business, and we utilize trademark registrations and other means to protect them. Our business would be harmed if we were unable to protect our brand against infringement and its value was to decrease as a result.

We rely on a combination of patent, trademark and copyright laws, trade secret protection and confidentiality and license agreements to protect the intellectual property rights related to our products and services. We currently have 11 issued patents and 14 patent applications pending. Although we generally seek patent protection for inventions and improvements that we anticipate will be incorporated into our products and services, there is always a chance that our patents or patent applications could be challenged, invalidated or circumvented, or that an issued patent will not adequately cover the scope of our inventions or improvements incorporated into our products or services. Additionally, our patents could be circumvented by third-parties.

We may unknowingly violate the intellectual property or other proprietary rights of others and, thus, may be subject to claims by third parties. These assertions may increase over time as a result of our growth and the general increase in the pace of patent claims assertions, particularly in the United States. Because of the existence of a large number of patents in the mobile technology field, the secrecy of some pending patents, and the rapid rate of issuance of new patents, it is not economically practical or even possible to determine in advance whether a product or any of its elements infringes or will infringe on the patent rights of others. Regardless of the merit of these claims, we may be required to devote significant time and resources to defending against these claims or to protecting and enforcing our own rights. We might also be required to develop a non-infringing technology or enter into license agreements and there can be no assurance that licenses will be available on acceptable terms and conditions, if at all. Some of our intellectual property rights may not be protected by intellectual property laws, particularly in foreign jurisdictions. The loss of our intellectual property or the inability to secure or enforce our intellectual property rights or to defend successfully against an infringement action could harm our business, results of operations, financial condition and prospects.

We are exposed to losses from customer accounts.

Fraudulent activity involving our products may lead to customer disputed transactions, for which we may be liable under banking regulations and payment network rules. Our fraud detection and risk control mechanisms may not prevent all fraudulent or illegal activity. To the extent we incur losses from disputed transactions, our business, results of operations and financial condition could be materially and adversely affected.

Additionally, our cardholders can incur charges in excess of the funds available in their accounts, and we may become liable for these overdrafts. While we decline authorization attempts for amounts that exceed the available balance in a cardholder's account, the application of card association rules, the timing of the settlement of transactions and the assessment of the card's monthly maintenance fee, among other things, can result in overdrawn accounts.

Maintenance fee assessment overdrafts occur as a result of our charging a cardholder, pursuant to the card's terms and conditions, the monthly maintenance fee at a time when he or she does not have sufficient funds in his or her account. Our remaining overdraft exposure arises primarily from late-posting. A late-post occurs when a merchant posts a transaction within a payment network-permitted timeframe but subsequent to our release of the authorization for that transaction, as permitted by card association rules. Under card association rules, we may be liable for the

amount of the transaction even if the cardholder has made additional purchases in the intervening period and funds are no longer available on the card at the time the transaction is posted.

We consider overdrawn account balances to be our receivables due from cardholders. We maintain reserves to cover the risk that we may not recover these receivables due from our cardholders, but our exposure may increase above these reserves for a variety of reasons, including our failure to predict the actual recovery rate accurately. To the extent we incur losses from overdrafts above our reserves or we determine that it is necessary to increase our reserves substantially, our business, results of operations and financial condition could be materially and adversely affected.

An impairment charge of goodwill or other intangible assets could have a material adverse impact on our financial condition and results of operations.

Because we have grown in part through acquisitions, our net goodwill and intangible assets represent a significant portion of our consolidated assets. Our net goodwill and intangible assets were $582.4 million as of December 31, 2017 . Under accounting principles generally accepted in the United States, or U.S. GAAP, we are required to test the carrying value of goodwill and intangible assets at least annually or sooner if events occur that indicate impairment could exist. These events or circumstances could include a significant change in the business climate, including a significant sustained decline in a reporting unit's fair value, legal and regulatory factors, operating performance indicators, competition and other factors.

U.S. GAAP requires us to assign and then test goodwill at the reporting unit level. If over a sustained period of time we experience a decrease in our stock price and market capitalization, which may serve as an estimate of the fair value of our reporting unit, this may be an indication of impairment. If the fair value of our reporting unit is less than its net book value, we may be required to record goodwill impairment charges in the future. In addition, if the revenue and cash flows generated from any of our other intangible assets is not sufficient to support its net book value, we may be required to record an impairment charge. The amount of any impairment charge could be significant and could have a material adverse impact on our financial condition and results of operations for the period in which the charge is taken.

If we are unable to keep pace with the rapid technological developments in our industry and the larger electronic payments industry necessary to continue providing our network acceptance members and cardholders with new and innovative products and services, the use of our cards and other products and services could decline.

The electronic payments industry is subject to rapid and significant technological changes. We cannot predict the effect of technological changes on our business. We rely in part on third parties, including some of our competitors and potential competitors, for the development of, and access to, new technologies. We expect that new services and technologies applicable to our industry will continue to emerge, and these new services and technologies may be superior to, or render obsolete, the technologies we currently utilize in our products and services. Additionally, we may make future investments in, or enter into strategic alliances to develop, new technologies and services or to implement infrastructure change to further our strategic objectives, strengthen our existing businesses and remain competitive. However, our ability to transition to new services and technologies that we develop may be inhibited by a lack of industry-wide standards, by resistance from our retail distributors, network acceptance members, third-party processors or consumers to these changes, or by the intellectual property rights of third parties. Our future success will depend, in part, on our ability to develop new technologies and adapt to technological changes and evolving industry standards. These initiatives are inherently risky, and they may not be successful or may have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We face settlement risks from our distributors and banking partners, which may increase during an economic downturn.

The majority of our business is conducted through retail distributors that sell our products and services to consumers at their store locations. Our retail distributors collect funds from the consumers who purchase our products and services and then must remit these funds directly to accounts established for the benefit of these consumers at the banks that issue our cards. The remittance of these funds by the retail distributor takes on average two business days. If a retail distributor becomes insolvent, files for bankruptcy, commits fraud or otherwise fails to remit proceeds to our card issuing bank from the sales of our products and services, we are liable for any amounts owed to our customers. As of December 31, 2017 , we had assets subject to settlement risk of $209.4 million . Given the possibility of recurring volatility in global financial markets, the approaches we use to assess and monitor the creditworthiness of our retail distributors may be inadequate, and we may be unable to detect and take steps to mitigate an increased credit risk in a timely manner.

Economic downturns could result in settlement losses, whether or not directly related to our business. We are not insured against these risks. Significant settlement losses could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

Economic, political and other conditions may adversely affect trends in consumer spending.

The electronic payments industry, including the prepaid financial services segment within that industry, depends heavily upon the overall level of consumer spending. If conditions in the United States become uncertain or deteriorate, we may experience a reduction in the number of our cards that are purchased or reloaded, the number of transactions involving our cards and the use of our reload network and related services. A sustained reduction in the use of our products and related services, either as a result of a general reduction in consumer spending or as a result of a disproportionate reduction in the use of card-based payment systems, would materially harm our business, results of operations and financial condition.

We must be able to operate and scale our technology effectively.

Our ability to continue to provide our products and services to network participants, as well as to enhance our existing products and services and offer new products and services, is dependent on our information technology systems. If we are unable to manage and scale the technology associated with our business effectively, we could experience increased costs, reductions in system availability and losses of our network participants. Any failure of our systems in scalability and functionality would adversely impact our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our future success depends on our ability to attract, integrate, retain and incentivize key personnel.

Our future success will depend, to a significant extent, on our ability to attract, integrate, retain and recognize key personnel, namely our management team and experienced sales, marketing and program and technology development personnel. Replacing departing key personnel can involve organizational disruption and uncertainty. We experience transitions among our executive officers from time to time. If we fail to manage these transitions successfully, we could experience significant delays or difficulty in the achievement of our development and strategic objectives and our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially and adversely harmed. We must retain and motivate existing personnel, and we must also attract, assimilate and motivate additional highly-qualified employees. We may experience difficulty in managing transitions and assimilating our newly-hired personnel, which may adversely affect our business. Additionally, continued activist shareholder activities involving our company could make it more difficult to attract and retain qualified personnel. Competition for qualified management, sales, marketing and program and technology development personnel can be intense. Competitors have in the past and may in the future attempt to recruit our top management and employees. If we fail to attract, integrate, retain and incentivize key personnel, our ability to manage and grow our business could be harmed.

We might require additional capital to support our business in the future, and this capital might not be available on acceptable terms, or at all.

If our unrestricted cash and cash equivalents balances and any cash generated from operations are not sufficient to meet our future cash requirements, we will need to access additional capital to fund our operations. We may also need to raise additional capital to take advantage of new business or acquisition opportunities. We may seek to raise capital by, among other things:

We may not be able to raise needed cash in a timely basis on terms acceptable to us or at all. Financings, if available, may be on terms that are dilutive or potentially dilutive to our stockholders. The holders of new securities may also receive rights, preferences or privileges that are senior to those of existing holders of our Class A common stock. In addition, if we were to raise cash through a debt financing, the terms of the financing might impose additional conditions or restrictions on our operations that could adversely affect our business. If we require new sources of financing but they are insufficient or unavailable, we would be required to modify our operating plans to take into account the limitations of available funding, which would harm our ability to maintain or grow our business.

Our business could be negatively affected as a result of actions of stockholders.

The actions of stockholders could adversely affect our business. Specifically, certain actions of certain types of stockholders, including without limitation public proposals, requests to pursue a strategic combination or other transaction or special demands or requests, could disrupt our operations, be costly and time-consuming or divert the

attention of our management and employees and increase the volatility of our stock. In addition, perceived uncertainties as to our future direction in relation to the actions of our stockholders may result in the loss of potential business opportunities or the perception that we are unstable and need to make changes, which may be exploited by our competitors and make it more difficult to attract and retain personnel as well as customers, service providers and partners. Actions by our stockholders may also cause fluctuations in our stock price based on speculative market perceptions or other factors that do not necessarily reflect the underlying fundamentals and prospects of our business.

The occurrence of catastrophic events could damage our facilities or the facilities of third parties on which we depend, which could force us to curtail our operations.

We and some of the third-party service providers on which we depend for various support functions, such as customer service and card processing, are vulnerable to damage from catastrophic events, such as power loss, natural disasters, terrorism and similar unforeseen events beyond our control. Our principal offices, for example, are situated in southern California near known earthquake fault zones. If any catastrophic event were to occur, our ability to operate our business could be seriously impaired. In addition, we might not have adequate insurance to cover our losses resulting from catastrophic events or other significant business interruptions. Any significant losses that are not recoverable under our insurance policies, as well as the damage to, or interruption of, our infrastructure and processes, could seriously impair our business and financial condition.

If we fail to maintain proper and effective internal controls, our ability to produce accurate financial statements on a timely basis could be impaired, which could result in a loss of investor confidence in our financial reports and have an adverse effect on our stock price.

Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of our financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with U.S. GAAP. If we are unable to maintain adequate internal control over financial reporting, we might be unable to report our financial information on a timely basis and might suffer adverse regulatory consequences or violate NYSE listing standards. There could also be a negative reaction in the financial markets due to a loss of investor confidence in us and the reliability of our financial statements. We have in the past and may in the future discover areas of our internal financial and accounting controls and procedures that need improvement. Our internal control over financial reporting will not prevent or detect all error and all fraud. A control system, no matter how well conceived and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the objectives of the control system will be met. Because of the inherent limitations in all control systems, no evaluation of controls can provide absolute assurance that all control issues and instances of fraud, if any, within our company will be detected. If we are unable to maintain proper and effective internal controls, we may not be able to produce accurate financial statements on a timely basis, which could adversely affect our ability to operate our business and could result in regulatory action, and could require us to restate, our financial statements. Any such restatement could result in a loss of public confidence in the reliability of our financial statements and sanctions imposed on us by the SEC.

Changes in accounting standards or inaccurate estimates or assumptions in the application of accounting policies could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

Our accounting policies and methods are fundamental to how we record and report our financial condition and results of operations. Some of these policies require use of estimates and assumptions that may affect the reported value of our assets or liabilities and results of operations and are critical because they require management to make difficult, subjective and complex judgments about matters that are inherently uncertain. If those assumptions, estimates or judgments were incorrectly made, we could be required to correct and restate prior period financial statements. Accounting standard-setters and those who interpret the accounting standards (such as the Financial Accounting Standards Board, the SEC and banking regulators) may also amend or even reverse their previous interpretations or positions on how various standards should be applied. These changes can be difficult to predict and can materially impact how we record and report our financial condition and results of operations. In some cases, we could be required to apply a new or revised standard retroactively, resulting in the need to revise and republish prior period financial statements.

Our debt agreements contain restrictive covenants and financial ratio tests that restrict or prohibit our ability to engage in or enter into a variety of transactions. If we fail to comply with these covenants or tests, our indebtedness under these agreements could become accelerated, which could adversely affect us.

In October 2014 we entered into a $225.0 million term credit agreement with Bank of America, N.A., as an administrative agent, Wells Fargo Bank, National Association, and other lenders. This agreement contains various covenants that may have the effect of limiting, among other things, our ability and the ability of certain of our subsidiaries to: merge with other entities, enter into a transaction resulting in a change in control, create new liens, incur additional

indebtedness, sell assets outside of the ordinary course of business, enter into transactions with affiliates (other than subsidiaries) or substantially change the general nature of our and our subsidiaries' business, taken as a whole, make certain investments, enter into restrictive agreements, or make certain dividends or other distributions. These restrictions could limit our ability to take advantage of financing, merger, acquisition or other opportunities, to fund our business operations or to fully implement our current and future operating strategies.

Under the agreement, we have agreed to maintain compliance with a maximum consolidated leverage ratio and a minimum consolidated fixed charge coverage ratio of 1.75 and 1.25, respectively, at the end of any fiscal quarter. Our ability to meet these financial ratios and tests will be dependent upon our future performance and may be affected by events beyond our control (including factors discussed in this "Risk Factors" section). If we fail to satisfy these requirements, our indebtedness under these agreements could become accelerated and payable at a time when we are unable to pay them. This would adversely affect our ability to implement our operating strategies and would have a material adverse effect on our financial condition.

Risks Related to Ownership of Our Class A Common Stock

The price of our Class A common stock may be volatile.

In the recent past, stocks generally, and financial services company stocks in particular, have experienced high levels of volatility. The trading price of our Class A common stock has been highly volatile since our initial public offering and may continue to be subject to wide fluctuations. The trading price of our Class A common stock depends on a number of factors, including those described in this "Risk Factors" section, many of which are beyond our control and may not be related to our operating performance. Factors that could cause fluctuations in the trading price of our Class A common stock include the following:

In the past, many companies that have experienced volatility in the market price of their stock have become subject to securities class action litigation. We may be the target of this type of litigation in the future. Securities litigation against us could result in substantial costs and divert our management's attention from other business concerns, which could seriously harm our business.

Our charter documents, Delaware law and our status as bank holding company could discourage, delay or prevent a takeover that stockholders consider favorable and could also reduce the market price of our stock.

Our certificate of incorporation and bylaws contain provisions that could delay or prevent a change in control of our company. These provisions could also make it more difficult for stockholders to nominate directors for election to our board of directors and take other corporate actions. These provisions, among other things:

These and other provisions in our certificate of incorporation and bylaws, as well as provisions under Delaware law, could discourage potential takeover attempts, reduce the price that investors might be willing to pay in the future for shares of our Class A common stock and result in the trading price of our Class A common stock being lower than it otherwise would be.

In addition to the foregoing, under the BHC Act and the Change in Bank Control Act, and their respective implementing regulations, Federal Reserve Board approval is necessary prior to any person or company acquiring control of a bank or bank holding company, subject to certain exceptions. Control, among other considerations, exists if an individual or company acquires 25% or more of any class of voting securities, and may be presumed to exist if a person acquires 10% or more of any class of voting securities. These restrictions could affect the willingness or ability of a third party to acquire control of us for so long as we are a bank holding company.

If securities analysts do not continue to publish research or reports about our business or if they publish negative evaluations of our Class A common stock, the trading price of our Class A common stock could decline.

We expect that the trading price for our Class A common stock will be affected by any research or reports that securities analysts publish about us or our business. If one or more of the analysts who currently cover us or our business downgrade their evaluations of our Class A common stock, the price of our Class A common stock would likely decline. If one or more of these analysts cease coverage of our company, we could lose visibility in the market for our Class A common stock, which in turn could cause our stock price to decline.

ITEM 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments

None.

ITEM 2. Properties

Our headquarters is located in Pasadena, California where we lease approximately 140,000 square feet. We own the real property where our subsidiary bank's only office is located in Provo, Utah. Through our wholly owned subsidiaries, we lease office facilities in Birmingham, Alabama; San Diego, California; San Ramon, California; New York, New York; Cincinnati, Ohio; Sandy, Utah; and Shanghai, China. We also lease additional technology development and sale and support offices in Tampa, Florida; Rogers, Arkansas; Westlake Village, California; and Manila, Philippines. We believe that our existing and planned facilities are adequate to support our existing operations and that, as needed, we will be able to obtain suitable additional facilities on commercially reasonable terms.

ITEM 3. Legal Proceedings

Information with respect to this item may be found under the caption "Litigation and Claims" in Note 19 - Commitments and Contingencies  to the Consolidated Financial Statements included herein, which information is incorporated into this Item 3 by reference.

ITEM 4. Mine Safety Disclosures

Not applicable.

PART II

ITEM 5. Market for Registrant's Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

Market Information

Our Class A common stock is listed on the NYSE under the symbol "GDOT." The following table sets forth for the periods indicated the high and low sales prices per share of our Class A common stock as reported on the NYSE.

Holders of Record

As of January 31, 2018 , we had 82 holders of record of our Class A common stock. The actual number of stockholders is greater than this number of record holders, and includes stockholders who are beneficial owners, but whose shares are held in street name by brokers and other nominees. This number of holders of record also does not include stockholders whose shares may be held in trust by other entities.

Dividends

We have never declared or paid any cash dividends on our capital stock, and we do not currently intend to pay any cash dividends on our Class A common stock for the foreseeable future. As a bank holding company, the Federal Reserve Board's risk-based and leverage capital requirements, as well as other federal laws applicable to banks and bank holding companies, could limit our ability to pay dividends. We expect to retain future earnings, if any, to fund the development and future growth of our business. Additionally, our ability to pay dividends on our Class A common stock is limited by restrictions on our ability to pay dividends or make distributions under the terms of our existing credit facility. Any future determination to pay dividends on our Class A common stock, if permissible, will be at the discretion of our board of directors and will depend upon, among other factors, our financial condition, operating results, current and anticipated cash needs, plans for expansion and other factors that our board of directors may deem relevant.

Purchases of Equity Securities by the Issuer and Affiliated Purchasers

There was no repurchase activity during the three months ended December 31, 2017 .

Stock Performance Graph

This performance graph shall not be deemed "filed" for purposes of section 18 of the Exchange Act, or otherwise subject to the liabilities under that section and shall not be deemed to be incorporated by reference into any filing of Green Dot Corporation under the Securities Act or the Exchange Act.

The graph and table below compare the cumulative total stockholder return of Green Dot Corporation Class A common stock, the Russell 2000 Index, the S&P Small Cap 600 Index and the S&P 500 Financials Index for the period beginning on the close of trading on the NYSE on December 31, 2012 and ending on the close of trading on the NYSE on December 31, 2017 . The graph assumes a $100 investment in our Class A common stock and each of the indices, and the reinvestment of dividends.

The comparisons in the graph and table below are based on historical data and are not intended to forecast the possible future performance of our Class A common stock.

Total Return to Shareholders (Includes reinvestment of dividends)

ITEM 6. Selected Financial Data

The following tables present selected historical financial data for our business. This information should be read in conjunction with Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations and Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data of this report. The selected consolidated financial data in this section is not intended to replace the financial statements and is qualified in its entirety by the consolidated financial statements and related notes.

We derived the statements of operations data for the years ended December 31, 2017 , 2016 , and 2015 , respectively, and the balance sheet data as of December 31, 2017 and 2016 from our audited consolidated financial statements included in Item 8 of this report. We derived the statements of operations data for the years ended December 31, 2014 and 2013 , and balance sheet data as of December 31, 2015 , 2014 and 2013 , from our audited consolidated financial statements not included in this report. Our historical results are not necessarily indicative of our results to be expected in any future period.

For the periods presented above, as applicable, we grouped the components of Class B common stock basic earnings per common share, or EPS, and diluted EPS with Class A common stock, as if they were one class, to conform to the current period presentation. 

ITEM 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

This Annual Report on Form 10-K, including this Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, contains forward-looking statements regarding future events and our future results that are subject to the safe harbors created under the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the "Exchange Act"). All statements other than statements of historical facts are statements that could be deemed to be forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current expectations, estimates, forecasts and projections about the industries in which we operate and the beliefs and assumptions of our management. Words such as "expects," "anticipates," "targets," "goals," "projects," "intends," "plans," "believes," "seeks," "estimates," "continues," "endeavors," "strives," "may" and "assumes," variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. In addition, any statements that refer to projections of our future financial performance, our anticipated growth and trends in our businesses, and other characterizations of future events or circumstances are forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned that these forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties, and assumptions that are difficult to predict, including those identified below, under "Part I, Item 1A. Risk Factors," and elsewhere herein. Therefore, actual results may differ materially and adversely from those expressed in any forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements for any reason.

In this Annual Report, unless otherwise specified or the context otherwise requires, "Green Dot," "we," "us," and "our" refer to Green Dot Corporation and its consolidated subsidiaries.

Overview

Green Dot Corporation is a pro-consumer bank holding company and financial technology innovator with a mission to reinvent personal banking for the masses. We employ a unique "products and platform" operating model whereby we use our banking and technology assets to design, build and distribute our branded financial services products directly to consumers through a large-scale omni-channel national distribution platform; while also allowing qualified third party partners to access those same banking and technology assets to design, build and distribute their own bespoke financial services directly to their consumers through their own distribution platforms. Through our six revenue divisions and our subsidiary bank, Green Dot Bank, we are a leading provider of prepaid cards, debit cards, checking accounts, secured credit cards, payroll debit cards, consumer cash processing services, wage disbursements and tax refund processing services. With approximately 100,000 major name U.S. retail stores selling our products, several leading direct-to-consumer websites, thousands of tax preparation offices, several apps available in the two leading app stores and distribution through several enterprise-scale "Banking as a Service,"or "BaaS," partnerships, we are one of the most broadly distributed banking franchises in the United States. We are headquartered in Pasadena, California, with additional facilities throughout the United States and in Shanghai, China.

As the regulated entity and issuing bank for substantially all products and services we provide, whether our own or on behalf of a BaaS platform partner, we are directly accountable for all aspects of each program's integrity, inclusive of ensuring the program's compliance with all applicable banking regulations, applicable state and federal law and our various internal governance policies and procedures related to all areas of risk and compliance, in addition to deploying enterprise-class risk management practices and procedures to ensure each program's initial and ongoing safety and soundness.

2017 Six Step Plan

In February 2017, we announced our 2017 Six Step Plan (the "2017 Plan") outlining our strategy to grow revenue, reduce expenses and appropriately allocate capital, all with the objective of driving EPS growth. The following describes each of the six steps within the 2017 Plan.

Step 1:  Deploy new acquisition and retention strategies to reduce the year-over-year sequential quarterly loss in active cards and return to active card growth in 2018.

Step 2:  Secure additional shelf space for the new MoneyPak and launch at least one unique and compelling new MoneyPak use case to expand the total available market.

Step 3:  Make investments in growing the successful new initiatives launched in 2016, while making modest investments in a new crop of high-potential initiatives that can drive future growth.

Step 4:  Drive incremental platform savings across the enterprise and achieve savings from integrating the UniRush acquisition over the course of 2017.

Step 5:  Continue to look for new acquisitions that are strategic, synergistic and accretive.

Step 6:  Return capital to shareholders through share buy-backs.

We successfully completed and exceeded our expectations for each of the six steps by the end of 2017.

Financial Results and Trends

Our results of operations for the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016 were as follows:

Total operating revenues

Total operating revenues for the year ended December 31, 2017 increased 23.8% over the prior year. This is a result of double digit organic revenue growth for the year ended December 31, 2017 and our acquisition of UniRush, which closed on February 28, 2017. In our Account Services segment, organic revenue growth was driven in part by the continued trend of an improving mix in our active card portfolio toward higher revenue generating customers as compared to the prior year, improved unit economics on our new suite of prepaid card products, a higher proportion of cards that are loaded by direct deposit, and a return to year-over-year growth in the number of active cards in our organic portfolio during the second half of 2017. These factors contributed to an improvement in the quality of our active card portfolio, as evidenced by greater customer engagement through increased gross dollar volume and purchase volume on a year-over-year basis. In our Processing and Settlement Services segment, organic revenues also increased due to a) increased transactions and higher revenue per transaction in our Tax Processing revenue division, b) increased transactions and higher revenue per transaction in our Money Processing revenue division and c) substantially increased transaction volume from our Simply Paid product line.

Total operating expenses

Total operating expenses for the year ended December 31, 2017 increased 20.8% over the prior year. This is principally a result of the acquisition of UniRush and higher sales and marketing expenses attributable to the year-over-year increase in organic operating revenues generated from products that are subject to revenue share payments to our distributors. Additionally, processing expenses increased as a result of higher transactional usage per active card within our organic portfolio, as processing fees are generally charged on a per transaction basis.

During the year ended December 31, 2017 , we incurred approximately $9.4 million of processing expenses related to the processor conversion challenges encountered in 2016 that resulted in incremental processing charges in excess of our normalized rate. We resolved this matter during the first half of 2017 and did not incur material incremental processing expenses in excess of our normalized rate after June 30, 2017. During the year ended December 31, 2017 , we received approximately $6.5 million as a partial recovery of these costs, which has been recorded as an offset to processing expenses on our consolidated statement of operations.

During the year ended December 31, 2017 , we recorded a $7.5 million reduction to our contingent consideration liability associated with an earn-out provision contained in the definitive merger agreement for the acquisition of our tax refund processing business. We recorded the change in fair value as a component of other general and administrative expenses on our consolidated statements of operations. The third and final performance period under the earn-out provision ended on June 30, 2017. The reduction represents our firm belief that our tax refund processing business did not achieve its earn-out performance target for the fiscal period ending June 30, 2017, and therefore the total potential payout of $26 million has not been accrued on our balance sheet as of December 31, 2017 . The parties to the acquisition are attempting to resolve the final earn-out calculation according to the process provided for in the definitive merger agreement, and will likely require a neutral third party to make a final determination. To the extent there is an unfavorable resolution for the earn-out payment, we may be required to make a final earn-out payment of up to $26 million.

Income taxes

Income tax expense for the year ended December 31, 2017 decreased $2.4 million from the prior year as a result of a lower effective tax rate. The decline in our rate was primarily due to excess tax benefits as a result of our adoption of ASU 2016-09 and one-time favorable adjustments to our deferred taxes assets and liabilities, including $6.3 million due to the remeasurement of our deferred tax assets and liabilities associated with the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the "Tax Act").

On December 22, 2017, the Tax Act was signed into law and introduces significant changes to U.S. income tax law. Effective in 2018, the Tax Act reduces the US federal corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%, creates new taxes on certain foreign-sourced earnings and certain related-party payments, eliminates certain deductions and enhances and extends through 2026 the option to claim accelerated depreciation deductions on qualified property. Although we have not completed our analysis of the tax effects of the Tax Act, we expect our annual effective tax rate will be lower in 2018 as a result of the Tax Act. Our annual effective rate for 2018 is difficult to predict due to a number of factors, including excess tax benefits related to stock-based compensation, which will vary from quarter to quarter depending on fluctuations in our stock price in each period.

Refer to  Note 13 - Income Taxes  to the Consolidated Financial Statements included herein for additional information about our adoption of ASU 2016-09 and the impact of the Tax Act.

Key Metrics

We review a number of metrics to help us monitor the performance of, and identify trends affecting, our business. We believe the following measures are the primary indicators of our quarterly and annual revenues.

Number of Active Cards - represents the total number of GPR cards and checking accounts in our portfolio that had a purchase, reload or ATM withdrawal transaction during the previous 90-day period. We had 5.26 million , 4.13 million , and 4.50 million active cards outstanding as of December 31, 2017 , 2016 , and 2015 , respectively. We review this metric as a measure of the overall size and scale of our GPR card portfolio and an indicator of customer engagement and usage of our products and services. The increase in the number of active cards of 27% was driven by our acquisition of UniRush, as well as a 4% year-over-year increase in the number of active cards in our organic portfolio. The fourth quarter of 2017 marks the second consecutive quarter in which we have achieved year-over-year growth in organic active cards since the discontinuation of the original MoneyPak PIN product in the first quarter of 2015.

Gross Dollar Volume - represents the total dollar volume of funds processed and settled by our consolidated enterprise, excluding tax refunds processed. Our gross dollar volume was $31.8 billion , $23.0 billion , and $22.0 billion for the year s ended December 31, 2017 , 2016 , and 2015 , respectively. We review this metric as a measure of the size and scale of our processing infrastructure and as an indicator of customer engagement and usage of our products and services. The increase in gross dollar volume of 39% during the year ended December 31, 2017 from the comparable prior year period was principally driven by our acquisition of UniRush and higher average gross dollar volume per organic actives during the periods.

Purchase Volume - represents the total dollar volume of purchase transactions made by customers using our GPR, checking account and gift card products. This metric excludes the dollar volume of ATM withdrawals. Our purchase volume was $21.6 billion , $16.3 billion , and $16.1 billion for the year s ended December 31, 2017 , 2016 , and 2015 , respectively. We use this metric to analyze interchange revenue, which is a key component of our financial performance. The increase in purchase volume of 32% during the year ended December 31, 2017 , from the comparable prior year period was driven by an increase in gross dollar volume, as described above, our acquisition of UniRush and higher purchase volume per number of active cards as a result of the increasing quality of customers within our active card base.

Number of Cash Transfers - represents the total number of reload transactions that we conducted through our retail distributors in a specified period. We processed 38.60 million , 37.79 million , and 38.88 million reload transactions for the year s ended December 31, 2017 , 2016 and 2015 , respectively. We review this metric as a measure of the size and scale of our retail cash reload network, as an indicator of customer engagement and usage of our products and services, and to analyze cash transfer revenue, which is a key component of our financial performance. Our cash transfers increase d 2% during the year ended December 31, 2017 over the prior year primarily due to year-over-year growth in our updated MoneyPak PIN product we began selling in Q2 2016 and our swipe reload service which was driven by the increase in active cards, partially offset by an increase in direct deposit penetration in our active card portfolio as direct deposit customers, on average, perform fewer cash reloads.

Number of Tax Refunds Processed - represents the total number of tax refunds processed in a specified period. We processed 11.17 million , 10.52 million and 10.68 million tax refund transactions for the year s ended December 31, 2017 , 2016 and 2015 , respectively. We review this metric as a measure of the size and scale of our tax refund processing platform and as an indicator of customer engagement and usage of our products and services.

Key components of our results of operations

Operating Revenues

We classify our operating revenues into the following three categories:

Card Revenues and Other Fees - Card revenues consist of monthly maintenance fees, ATM fees, new card fees and other revenues. We charge maintenance fees on GPR cards, checking accounts and certain cash transfer products, such as MoneyPak, pursuant to the terms and conditions in our customer agreements. We charge ATM fees to cardholders when they withdraw money at certain ATMs in accordance with the terms and conditions in our cardholder agreements. We charge new card fees, if applicable, when a consumer purchases a GPR card, gift card, or a checking account product. Other revenues consist primarily of revenue associated with our gift card program, annual fees associated with our secured credit card portfolio, transaction-based fees and fees associated with optional products or services, which we offer to cardholders from time to time.

Our aggregate monthly maintenance fee revenues vary primarily based upon the number of active cards in our portfolio and the average fee assessed per account. Our average monthly maintenance fee per active card depends upon the mix of products in our portfolio at any given point in time and upon the extent to which fees are waived based on various incentives provided to customers in an effort to encourage higher usage and retention. Our aggregate ATM fee revenues vary based upon the number of cardholder ATM transactions and the average fee per ATM transaction. The average fee per ATM transaction depends upon the mix of products in our portfolio at any given point in time and the extent to which cardholders use ATMs within our free network that carry no fee for cash withdrawal transactions. Our aggregate new card fee revenues vary based upon the number of GPR cards and checking accounts activated and the average new card fee. The average new card fee depends primarily upon the mix of products that we sell since there are variations in new account fees based on the product and/or the location or source where our products are purchased. Our aggregate other fees vary primarily based upon account sales of all types, gift card sales, purchase transactions and the number of active accounts in our portfolio.

Processing and Settlement Service Revenues - Processing and settlement service revenues consist of cash transfer revenues, tax refund processing service revenues and Simply Paid disbursement revenues. We earn cash transfer revenues when consumers fund their cards through a reload transaction at a Green Dot Network retail location. Our aggregate cash transfer revenues vary based upon the mix of locations where reload transactions occur, since reload fees vary by location. We earn tax refund processing service revenues when a customer of a third party tax preparation company chooses to pay their tax preparation fee through the use of our tax refund processing services. We earn Simply Paid disbursement fees from our business partners as payment disbursements are made.

Interchange Revenues - We earn interchange revenues from fees remitted by the merchant's bank, which are based on rates established by the payment networks, when customers make purchase transactions using our products. Our aggregate interchange revenues vary based primarily on the number of active cards in our portfolio, the average transactional volume of the active cards in our portfolio and on the mix of cardholder purchases between those using signature identification technologies and those using personal identification numbers and the corresponding rates.

Operating Expenses

We classify our operating expenses into the following four categories:

Sales and Marketing Expenses - Sales and marketing expenses consist primarily of the commissions we pay to our retail distributors, brokers and platform partners, advertising and marketing expenses, and the costs of manufacturing and distributing card packages, placards and promotional materials to our retail distributors and personalized GPR and GoBank cards to consumers who have activated their cards. We generally establish commission percentages in long-term distribution agreements with our retail distributors and platform partners. Aggregate commissions with our retail distributors are determined by the number of prepaid cards, checking account products and cash transfers sold at their respective retail stores. Commissions with our platform partners and, in certain cases, our retail distributors are determined by the revenue generated from the ongoing use of the associated card programs. We incur advertising and marketing expenses for television, sponsorships, online and in-store promotions. Advertising and marketing expenses are recognized as incurred and typically deliver a benefit over an extended period of time. For this reason, these expenses do not always track changes in our operating revenues. Our manufacturing and distribution costs vary primarily based on the number of GPR and GoBank accounts activated by consumers.

Compensation and Benefits Expenses - Compensation and benefits expenses represent the compensation and benefits that we provide to our employees and the payments we make to third-party contractors. While we have an in-house customer service function, we employ third-party contractors to conduct call center operations, handle routine customer service inquiries and provide consulting support in the area of IT operations and elsewhere. Compensation and benefits expenses associated with our customer service and loss management functions generally vary in line with the size of our active card portfolio, while the expenses associated with other functions do not.

Processing Expenses - Processing expenses consist primarily of the fees charged to us by the payment networks, which process transactions for us, the third-party card processors that maintains the records of our customers ' accounts and processes transaction authorizations and postings for us and the third-party banks that issue our accounts. These costs generally vary based on the total number of active accounts in our portfolio and gross dollar volume transacted by those accounts. Also included in processing expenses are bank fees associated with our tax refund processing services and gateway and network fees associated with our Simply Paid disbursement services. Bank fees generally vary based on the total number of tax refund transfers processed and gateway and network fees vary based on the numbers of disbursements made.

Other General and Administrative Expenses - Other general and administrative expenses consist primarily of professional service fees, telephone and communication costs, depreciation and amortization of our property and equipment and intangible assets, changes in contingent consideration, transaction losses (losses from customer disputed transactions, unrecovered customer purchase transaction overdrafts and fraud), rent and utilities, and insurance. We incur telephone and communication costs primarily from customers contacting us through our toll-free telephone numbers. These costs vary with the total number of active cards in our portfolio, as do losses from customer disputed transactions, unrecovered customer purchase transaction overdrafts and fraud. Costs associated with professional services, depreciation and amortization of our property and equipment, amortization of our acquired intangible assets, rent and utilities vary based upon our investment in infrastructure, business development, risk management and internal controls and are generally not correlated with our operating revenues or other transaction metrics.

Income Tax Expense

Our income tax expense consists of the federal and state corporate income taxes accrued on income resulting from the sale of our products and services.

Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates

We prepare our consolidated financial statements in accordance with GAAP. The preparation of our consolidated financial statements requires our management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenues, costs and expenses and related disclosures. We base our estimates on historical experience, current circumstances and various other assumptions that our management believes to be reasonable under the circumstances. In many instances, we could reasonably use different accounting estimates, and in some instances changes in the accounting estimates are reasonably likely to occur from period to period. Accordingly, actual results could differ significantly from the estimates made by our management. To the extent that there are differences between our estimates and actual results, our future financial statement presentation, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows will be affected. We believe that the accounting policies discussed below are critical to understanding our historical and future performance, as these policies relate to the more significant areas involving management's judgments and estimates.

Revenue Recognition

We recognize revenue when the price is fixed or determinable, persuasive evidence of an arrangement exists, the product is sold or the service is performed, and collectibility of the resulting receivable is reasonably assured.

We defer and recognize new card fee revenues on a straight-line basis over the period commensurate with our service obligation to our customers. We consider the service obligation period to be the average card lifetime. We determine the average card lifetime for each pool of homogeneous products (e.g., products that exhibit the same characteristics such as nature of service and terms and conditions) based on company-specific historical data. Currently, we determine the average card lifetime separately for our GPR cards and gift cards. For our GPR cards, we measure the card lifetime as the period of time, inclusive of reload activity, between sale (or activation) of a card and the date of the last positive balance on that card. We analyze GPR cards activated between six and thirty months prior to each balance sheet date. We use this historical look-back period as a basis for determining our average card lifetime because it provides sufficient time for meaningful behavioral trends to develop. Currently, our GPR cards have an average card lifetime of five months. The usage of gift cards is limited to the initial funds loaded to the card. Therefore, we measure these gift cards' lifetime as the redemption period over which cardholders initiate the substantial majority of their

transactions. Currently, gift cards have an average lifetime of six months. We reassess average card lifetime quarterly. Average card lifetimes may vary in the future as cardholder behavior changes relative to historical experience because customers are influenced by changes in the pricing of our services, the availability of substitute products, and other factors.

We also defer and expense commissions paid to retail distributors related to new card sales ratably over the average card lifetime, which is currently five months for our GPR cards and six months for gift cards.

We report our different types of revenues on a gross or net basis based on our assessment of whether we act as a principal or an agent in the transaction. To the extent we act as a principal in the transaction, we report revenues on a gross basis. In concluding whether or not we act as a principal or an agent, we evaluate whether we have the substantial risks and rewards under the terms of the revenue-generating arrangements, whether we are the party responsible for fulfillment of the services purchased by the cardholders, and other factors. For most of our significant revenue-generating arrangements, including GPR and gift cards, we recognize revenues on a gross basis. As it relates to our tax refund processing services, we act as an agent in these transactions and record revenues on a net basis.

Generally, customers have limited rights to a refund of the new card fee or a cash transfer fee. We have elected to recognize revenues prior to the expiration of the refund period, but reduce revenues by the amount of expected refunds, which we estimate based on actual historical refunds.

On occasion, we enter into incentive agreements with our retail distributors with the goal of increasing unit sales of our products to consumers. Additionally, we offer various cash-back programs to consumers on select debit and prepaid card programs with the goal of encouraging longer retention and high utilization of those products. We record these incentives, including the issuance of equity instruments, as a reduction of revenues and recognize them over the period the related revenues are recognized or as services are rendered, as applicable.

Stock-Based Compensation

We record employee stock-based compensation expense based on the grant-date fair value. For stock options and stock purchases under our employee stock purchase plan, we base compensation expense on fair values estimated at the grant date using the Black-Scholes option-pricing model. For stock awards, including restricted stock units, we base compensation expense on the fair value of our Class A common stock at the grant date. We recognize compensation expense for awards with only service conditions that have graded vesting schedules on a straight-line basis over the vesting period of the award. Vesting is based upon continued service to our company.

For performance based awards, we recognize compensation cost for the restricted stock units if and when we conclude it is probable that the performance will be satisfied, over the requisite service period based on the grant-date fair value of the stock. We reassess the probability of vesting at each reporting period and adjust compensation expense based on the probability assessment. For market based restricted stock units, we base compensation expense on the fair value estimated at the date of grant using a Monte Carlo simulation or similar lattice model. We recognize compensation expense over the requisite service period regardless of the market condition being satisfied, provided that the requisite service has been provided, since the estimated grant date fair value already incorporates the probability of outcomes that the market condition will be achieved.

We measure the fair value of equity instruments issued to non-employees as of the earlier of the date a performance commitment has been reached by the counterparty or the date performance is completed by the counterparty. We determine the fair value using the Black-Scholes option-pricing model or the fair value of our Class A common stock, as applicable, and recognize related expense in the same periods that the goods or services are received.

Reserve for Uncollectible Overdrawn Accounts

Our cardholder accounts may become overdrawn as a result of maintenance fee assessments or from purchase transactions that we honor, in each case in excess of the funds in the cardholder's account. While we decline authorization attempts for amounts that exceed the available balance in a cardholder's account, the application of card association rules, the timing of the settlement of transactions and the assessment of the card's monthly maintenance fee, among other things, can result in overdrawn accounts. Overdrawn account balances are deemed to be our receivables due from cardholders, and we include them as a component of accounts receivable, net, on our consolidated balance sheets. We generally recover overdrawn account balances from those cardholders that perform a reload transaction. In addition, we recover some overdrawn account balances related to purchase transaction through enforcement of payment network rules, which allow us to recover the amounts from the merchant where the purchase transaction was conducted. However, we are exposed to losses from any unrecovered overdrawn account balances. The probability of recovering these amounts is primarily related to the number of days that have elapsed since an account had activity, such as a purchase, ATM transaction or fee assessment. Generally, we recover 50-60% of

overdrawn account balances in accounts that have had activity in the last 30 days, less than 15% in accounts that have had activity in the last 30 to 60 days, and less than 10% when more than 60 days have elapsed.

We establish a reserve for uncollectible overdrawn accounts. We classify overdrawn accounts into age groups based on the number of days since the account last had activity. We then calculate a reserve factor for each age group based on the average recovery rate for the most recent six months. These factors are applied to these age groups to estimate our overall reserve. We rely on these historical rates because they have remained relatively consistent for several years. When more than 90 days have passed without any activity in an account, we consider recovery to be remote and charge off the full amount of the overdrawn account balance against the reserve for uncollectible overdrawn accounts. Our actual recovery rates and related estimates thereof may change in the future in response to factors such as customer behavior, product pricing and features that impact the frequency and velocity of reloads and other deposits to such accounts.

We include our provision for uncollectible overdrawn accounts related to maintenance fees and purchase transactions as an offset to card revenues and other fees and in other general and administrative expenses, respectively, in our consolidated statements of operations.

Goodwill and Intangible Assets

We review the recoverability of goodwill at least annually or whenever significant events or changes occur, which might impair the recovery of recorded costs. Factors that may be considered a change in circumstances indicating that the carrying value of our goodwill may not be recoverable, include a decline in our stock price and market capitalization, declines in the market conditions of our products, reductions in our future cash flow estimates, and significant adverse industry or economic market trends, amongst others. We test for impairment of goodwill by assessing various qualitative factors with respect to developments in our business and the overall economy and calculating the fair value of a reporting unit using the discounted cash flow method, as necessary. In the event that the carrying value of assets is determined to be unrecoverable, we would estimate the fair value of the reporting unit and record an impairment charge for the excess of the carrying value over the fair value. The estimate of fair value requires management to make a number of assumptions and projections, which could include, but would not be limited to, future revenues, earnings and the probability of certain outcomes.

Intangible and other long lived-assets subject to amortization are reviewed for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount may not be recoverable. Certain factors which may occur and indicate that an impairment exists include, but are not limited to the following: significant underperformance relative to expected historical or projected future operating results; significant changes in the manner of use of the underlying assets; and significant adverse industry or market economic trends. In reviewing for impairment, we compare the carrying value of such assets to the estimated undiscounted future net cash flows expected from the use of the assets and their eventual disposition. In the event that the carrying value of assets is determined to be unrecoverable, we would estimate the fair value of the assets and record an impairment charge for the excess of the carrying value over the fair value. The estimate of fair value requires management to make a number of assumptions and projections, which could include, but would not be limited to, future revenues, earnings and the probability of certain outcomes. We completed our annual goodwill impairment test as of September 30, 2017 . Based on the results of step one of the annual goodwill impairment test, we determined that step two was not required for each of our reporting units as their fair values exceeded their carrying values indicating there was no impairment. No impairment charges were recognized related to goodwill or intangible assets for the years ended December 31, 2017 , 2016 , and 2015 .

Comparison of Consolidated Results for the Years Ended December 31, 2017 and 2016

Operating Revenues

The following table presents a breakdown of our operating revenues among card revenues and other fees, processing and settlement service revenues and interchange revenues:

Card Revenues and Other Fees - Card revenues and other fees totaled $414.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2017 , an increase of $77.0 million , or 23% , from the comparable prior year period. We believe this increase in revenue reflects the increasing quality of customers within our active card base and improved unit economics on our suite of prepaid card products, which increased monthly maintenance fees and ATM fees earned within our Account Services segment, as well as our acquisition of UniRush on February 28, 2017.

Processing and Settlement Service Revenues - Processing and settlement service revenues totaled $217.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2017 , an increase of $33.2 million , or 18% , from the comparable prior year period. The increase was driven primarily by a higher volume and revenues earned per cash transfer and tax refund processed, as well as a year-over-year increase in disbursement revenues associated with our Simply Paid Uber program.

Interchange Revenues - Interchange revenues totaled $257.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2017 , an increase of $61.3 million or 31% , from the comparable prior year period. The increase was primarily due to year-over-year growth in purchase volume, driven by our acquisition of UniRush and higher purchase volume per number of active cards as a result of the increasing quality of customers within our active card base.

Operating Expenses

The following table presents a breakdown of our operating expenses among sales and marketing, compensation and benefits, processing, and other general and administrative expenses:

Sales and Marketing Expenses - Sales and marketing expenses totaled $280.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2017 , an increase of $31.5 million , or 13% compared to the year ended December 31, 2016 . This increase was the result of an increase of $26.1 million in sales commissions principally associated with higher organic revenues year-over-year generated from products that are subject to revenue-sharing agreements and an increase of $13.2 million in marketing expenses primarily driven by the acquisition of UniRush, partially offset by a decrease of $7.9 million in cost of materials. The decline in costs of materials relates to our 2016 roll out of our new suite of Green Dot branded prepaid and gift card products at our retailer distributors resulting in incremental costs of manufacturing and distributing card packages; there were no such roll out expenses in 2017.

Compensation and Benefits Expenses - Compensation and benefits expenses totaled $194.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2017 , an increase of $35.2 million or 22% , compared to the year ended December 31, 2016 . The increase was primarily the result of higher salaries and wages and third-party contractor expenses of $16.2 million and $3.7 million, respectively, driven by our acquisition of UniRush, and a $12.4 million increase in stock-based compensation expense.

Processing Expenses - Processing expenses totaled $161.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2017 , an increase of $53.4 million , or 50% , compared to the year ended December 31, 2016 . This increase was principally the result of our acquisition of UniRush, a higher volume of purchase and ATM transactions initiated by our cardholders and a higher volume of disbursement services, partially offset by a $6.5 million repayment of incremental processing expenses incurred during the first half of 2017 associated with our need to continue to support customer accounts on our legacy third-party card processor as discussed above.

Other General and Administrative Expenses - Other general and administrative expenses totaled $155.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2017 , an increase of $16.2 million , or 12% , from the comparable prior year period, primarily due to increases of $8.3 million of professional fees, $8.1 million in amortization of acquired intangible assets driven by the acquisition of UniRush, $5.8 million in transaction losses correlated with the increase in purchase volume, a $3.5 million expense in connection with the settlement of a lawsuit, $2.3 million of telecommunication expenses and $1.2 million of impairment charges related to internal-use software. These increases were partially offset by a year-over-year increase of $7.2 million in gains associated with the change in fair value of contingent consideration, principally related to acquisition of our tax refund processing business, and a decrease of $6.0 million in depreciation and amortization of property and equipment.

Income Tax Expense

The following table presents a breakdown of our effective tax rate among federal, state and other:

Our income tax expense decrease d by $2.4 million to $17.6 million in the year ended December 31, 2017 from the prior year due to a decrease in our effective tax rate from 32.4% to 17.0% . This decrease is primarily due to the impact of our adoption of ASU 2016-09, the remeasurement of our deferred tax assets and liabilities associated with the Tax Act, and the release of reserves for uncertain tax positions upon the completion of tax examinations and the expiration of the statute of limitations with certain taxing jurisdictions. Under ASU 2016-09, all excess tax benefits and tax deficiencies related to stock compensation are now recognized as income tax benefit or expense, respectively, in the income state instead of additional paid-in capital on the consolidated balance sheets. Refer to  Note 13 - Income Taxes  to the Consolidated Financial Statements included herein for additional information about our adoption of ASU 2016-09 and the impact of the Tax Act.

The "Other" category in our effective tax rate consists of a variety of permanent differences, none of which were individually significant.

Results of Operations by Segment

Information with respect to the results of operations for each of our reportable segments may be found under Note 23 - Segment Information to the Consolidated Financial Statements included herein, which information is incorporated herein by reference.

Comparison of Consolidated Results for the Years Ended December 31, 2016 and 2015

Operating Revenues

The following table presents a breakdown of our operating revenues among card revenues and other fees, processing and settlement service revenues and interchange revenues, as well as contra-revenue items:

Card Revenues and Other Fees - Card revenues and other fees totaled $337.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2016 , an increase of $19.7 million , or 6% , compared to the year ended December 31, 2015 . The increase was driven by a shift in the mix of our active card portfolio toward higher revenue generating customers as compared to 2015 and improved unit economics on our new suite of prepaid card products, which increased monthly maintenance fees and ATM fees earned, partially offset by lower new card fees for the comparable periods. These factors have contributed to the year-over-year growth in revenue per active card, which we define as operating revenues for our Account Services segment divided by the number of active cards in each case for or as of the applicable period end, despite a 8% decline in the number of active cards from the year ended December 31, 2015 to the year ended December 31, 2016.

Processing and Settlement Service Revenues - Processing and settlement service revenues totaled $184.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2016 , an increase of $1.7 million , or 1% , compared to the year ended December 31, 2015 . The number of cash transfers sold and tax refund transfers processed each decreased year-over-year. In each case, the decline in transactions was partially offset by higher revenue per transaction. The number of cash transfers sold decreased year-over-year due to the suspension of our MoneyPak PIN product, which was discontinued in the first quarter of 2015 and reintroduced in a different format in April 2016.

Interchange Revenues - Interchange revenues totaled $196.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2016 , an increase of $0.1 million compared to the year ended December 31, 2015 . Despite year-over-year growth of 2% in purchase volume, we earned a lower effective interchange rate on purchase volume due to a mix shift of purchase volume routed by certain merchants to lower revenue generating payment networks than in the prior year.

Stock-based Retailer Incentive Compensation - As a result of our repurchase right lapsing in May 2015, we had no stock-based retailer incentive compensation for the year ended December 31, 2016 , a decrease of $2.5 million compared to the year ended December 31, 2015 .

In May 2010, we issued to Walmart 2,208,552 shares of our Class A common stock, subject to our right to repurchase them at $0.01 per share upon a qualifying termination of our prepaid card program agreement with Walmart. Prior to May 2015, we recognized each month the fair value of the 36,810 shares issued to Walmart as to which our right to repurchase lapsed using the then-current fair market value of our Class A common stock. We recorded the fair value recognized as stock-based retailer incentive compensation, a contra-revenue component of our total operating revenues. Beginning in May 2015, we no longer record stock-based retailer compensation as a result of our repurchase right lapsing completely.

Operating Expenses

The following table presents a breakdown of our operating expenses among sales and marketing, compensation and benefits, processing, and other general and administrative expenses:

Sales and Marketing Expenses - Sales and marketing expenses totaled $249.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2016 , an increase of $18.7 million , or 8% compared to the year ended December 31, 2015 . The increase was primarily the result of $11.4 million of incremental costs of manufacturing and distributing card packages as a result of the continued introduction of our new suite of prepaid card products with improved unit economics at our retail distributors. Sales and marketing expenses also increased due to an increase in sales commission expenses due in part to the impact of the increased sales commission rate we pay Walmart under the new agreement executed in May 2015 being applied to sales for the entire year ended December 31, 2016 compared to eight months of the year ended December 31, 2015 .

Compensation and Benefits Expenses - Compensation and benefits expenses totaled $159.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2016 , a decrease of $8.7 million or 5% , compared to the year ended December 31, 2015 . Salaries and wages decreased by approximately $5.4 million and third party contractor expenses decreased by approximately $3.8 million, partially offset by an increase of $1.3 million in stock-based compensation expense.

Processing Expenses - Processing expenses totaled $107.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2016 , an increase of $5.5 million , or 5% , compared to the year ended December 31, 2015 . This increase was due to our growth in period-over-period purchase volume of 2%, higher fees charged to us by our payment networks for ATM and purchase transactions and lower bonus incentives received from our payment networks compared to the prior year. As discussed under "Financial Results and Trends," we incurred additional processing expenses during the second half of the year ended December 31, 2016 due to delays in the planned migration schedule to our new third party processor.

Other General and Administrative Expenses - Other general and administrative expenses totaled $139.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2016 , an increase of $4.8 million , or 4% , compared to the year ended December 31, 2015 . Other general and administrative expenses increased primarily due to year-over-year increases in cardholder transaction losses of $3.6 million, and a year-over-year decrease of $5.7 million in gains associated with the change in fair value of contingent consideration. These increases were offset by an absence in impairment charges during the year ended December 31, 2016 , as we recorded $5.7 million associated with the write down of certain internal-use software during the year ended December 31, 2015 .

Income Tax Expense

The following table presents a breakdown of our effective tax rate among federal, state and other:

Our income tax expense increase d by $ 0.3 million to $ 20.0 million in the year ended December 31, 2016 compared to the year ended December 31, 2015 due to an increase in income before income taxes. The decrease in our effective tax rate for the year ended December 31, 2016 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2015 from 33.9% to 32.4% is primarily attributable to the reversal of previously accrued tax positions on uncertain tax positions that were no longer necessary due to the expiration of statute of limitations and settlement with certain taxing jurisdictions.

Results of Operations by Segment

Information with respect to the results of operations for each of our reportable segments may be found under Note 23 - Segment Information to the Consolidated Financial Statements included herein, which information is incorporated herein by reference.

Capital Requirements for Bank Holding Companies

Our subsidiary bank, Green Dot Bank, is a member bank of the Federal Reserve System and our primary regulators are the Federal Reserve Board and the Utah Department of Financial Institutions. We are subject to various regulatory capital requirements administered by the banking agencies. Failure to meet minimum capital requirements can initiate certain mandatory actions by regulators that, if undertaken, could have a direct material effect on our financial statements. Under capital adequacy guidelines, we must meet specific capital guidelines that involve quantitative measures of the assets, liabilities and certain off-balance sheet items as calculated under regulatory accounting practices. The capital amounts and classification are also subject to qualitative judgments by the regulators about components, risk weightings and other factors.

In July 2013, the Federal Reserve and other U.S. banking regulators approved final rules regarding new risk-based capital, leverage and liquidity standards, known as "Basel III." The Basel III rules, which became effective for us and our bank on January 1, 2015, are subject to certain phase-in periods that occur over several years. The U.S. Basel III rules contain new capital standards that change the composition of capital, increase minimum capital ratios and strengthen counter-party credit risk capital requirements. The Basel III rules also include a new definition of common equity Tier 1 capital and require that certain levels of such common equity Tier 1 capital be maintained. The rules also include a new capital conservation buffer, which impose a common equity requirement above the new minimum that can be depleted under stress, and could result in restrictions on capital distributions and discretionary bonuses under certain circumstances, as well as a new standardized approach for calculating risk-weighted assets. Under the Basel III rules, we must maintain a ratio of common equity Tier 1 capital to risk-weighted assets of at least 4.5%, a ratio of Tier 1 capital to risk-weighted assets of at least 6%, a ratio of total capital to risk-weighted assets of at least 8% and a minimum Tier 1 leverage ratio of 4.0%.

As of December 31, 2017 and 2016 , we were categorized as "well capitalized" under the regulatory framework for prompt corrective action. To be categorized as "well capitalized," we must maintain specific total risk-based, Tier 1 risk-based and Tier 1 leverage ratios as set forth in the table below. There were no conditions or events since December 31, 2017 which management believes would have changed our category as "well capitalized."

The definitions associated with the amounts and ratios below are as follows:

The actual amounts and ratios, and required "well capitalized" minimum capital amounts and ratios at December 31, 2017 and 2016 , were as follows:

The year-over-year decline in the capital ratios of Green Dot Corporation was primarily driven by the acquisition of UniRush in February 2017 as goodwill and intangible assets acquired reduce common equity Tier 1 capital, Tier 1 capital and total capital. Additionally, our regulatory capital decreased as a result of our $50 million ASR completed in 2017.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

The following table summarizes our major sources and uses of cash for the periods presented:

During the year s ended December 31, 2017 , 2016 and 2015 we financed our operations primarily through our cash flows provided by operating activities. Additionally, during the years ended December 31, 2017 , 2016 and 2015 , we financed certain investing activities through our borrowings under our Senior Credit Facility. At December 31, 2017 , our primary source of liquidity was unrestricted cash and cash equivalents totaling $919.2 million . We also consider our $153.5 million of investment securities available-for-sale to be highly-liquid instruments.

We use trend and variance analysis as well as our detailed budgets and forecasts to project future cash needs, making adjustments to the projections when needed. We believe that our current unrestricted cash and cash equivalents, cash flows from operations and borrowing capacity under our senior credit facility will be sufficient to meet our working capital, capital expenditure, debt service requirements and any other capital needs for at least the next 12 months.

Cash Flows from Operating Activities

Our $218.3 million of net cash provided by operating activities in the year ended December 31, 2017 principally resulted from $85.9 million of net income, adjusted for certain non-cash operating expenses of $102.8 million and an increase in our net changes in working capital assets and liabilities of $29.6 million , driven principally by the timing of payments of our accounts payable and accrued liabilities. Our $114.5 million of net cash provided by operating activities in the year ended December 31, 2016 principally resulted from $41.6 million of net income, adjusted for certain non-cash operating expenses of $92.6 million , offset by a decrease in our net changes in our operating assets and liabilities of $19.7 million , driven primarily by a decrease in our accounts payable and accrued liabilities and an increase in tax payments made during the year. Our $156.9 million of net cash provided by operating activities in the year ended December 31, 2015 principally resulted from $38.4 million of net income, adjusted for certain non-cash operating expenses of $91.2 million , and an increase in our net changes in our operating assets and liabilities of $27.3 million , driven primarily by an increase in our accounts payable and accrued liabilities, and income taxes receivable.

Cash Flows from Investing Activities

Our $223.9 million of net cash used in investing activities in the year ended December 31, 2017 primarily reflects payment for our acquisition of UniRush, LLC of $141.5 million , net of cash acquired, and an increase of  $78.8 million  in our restricted cash balances associated with the timing of funds required at year end to collateralize a prefunding obligation with a business partner and payments for acquisition of property and equipment of $44.1 million , offset by proceeds from sales and maturities of available-for-sale investment securities, net of purchases, of $53.0 million . Our $78.3 million of net cash used in investing activities in the year ended December 31, 2016 primarily reflects payments for acquisition of property and equipment of $43.3 million , and purchases of available-for-sale investment securities, net of proceeds from sales and maturities, of $28.9 million . Our $175.7 million of net cash used in investing activities in the year ended December 31, 2015 reflects payments for business acquisitions of $65.2 million , net of cash acquired, payments for acquisition of property and equipment of $47.8 million , and purchases of available-for-sale investment securities, net of proceeds from sales and maturities of $62.7 million .

Cash Flows from Financing Activities

Our $192.2 million of net cash provided by financing activities for the year ended December 31, 2017 was primarily the result of a $284.8 million net increase in deposits associated with our card programs and $24.2 million from stock option exercise and employee stock purchase plan proceeds, offset by $52.0 million used for our stock repurchase program, $22.5 million in repayments of our note payable, $18.1 million in taxes paid from net settled equity awards, and a $20.9 million decrease in obligations to our customers. Our $75.7 million of net cash used in financing activities in the year ended December 31, 2016 was primarily the result of an $83.4 million decrease in obligations to customers, $59.0 million used for our stock repurchase program, $22.5 million in repayments of our note payable, and $8.2 million in taxes paid from net settled equity awards, offset by increases of $85.3 million in deposits to customers associated

with our GPR card program and $14.9 million from stock option exercise and employee stock purchase plan proceeds. Our $66.3 million of net cash provided by financing activities in the year ended December 31, 2015 was primarily the result of increases of $86.7 million of deposits to customers associated with our GPR card program and $45.4 million in obligations to customers, offset by $22.5 million in repayments of our note payable and  $41.0 million used for our stock repurchase program.

Commitments

We anticipate that we will continue to purchase property and equipment as necessary in the normal course of our business. The amount and timing of these purchases and the related cash outflows in future periods is difficult to predict and is dependent on a number of factors including the hiring of employees, the rate of change of computer hardware and software used in our business and our business outlook. During 2018, we intend to continue to invest in new products and programs, new features for our existing products and IT infrastructure to scale and operate effectively to meet our strategic objectives. We expect these capital expenditures will exceed the amount of our capital expenditures in 2017 as we reinvest a portion of the incremental cash flow we expect to generate as a result of the Tax Act and the expected lower effective tax rate.

We have used cash to acquire businesses and technologies and we anticipate that we may continue to do so in the future. The nature of these transactions makes it difficult to predict the amount and timing of such cash requirements. We may also be required to raise additional financing to complete future acquisitions. As discussed above in  Note 3-Business Acquisitions  to the Consolidated Financial Statements included herein, on February 28, 2017, we completed our acquisition of all the membership interests of UniRush for  $142.2 million  plus a minimum $4 million annual earn-out payment for five years following the closing. The earn-out payments will be made each year, with the minimum payment potentially becoming greater if certain revenue growth targets for the RushCard GPR card program are met in a given year, although any potential increase is not expected to be material to the overall purchase price.

Additionally, we may make periodic cash contributions to our subsidiary bank, Green Dot Bank, to maintain its capital, leverage and other financial commitments at levels we have agreed to with our regulators.

Senior Credit Facility

In October 2014, we entered into a $225 million credit agreement with Bank of America, N.A., as administrative agent, Wells Fargo Bank, National Association, and other lenders party thereto. The agreement provides for (i) a $75 million five-year revolving facility (the "Revolving Facility") and (ii) a five-year $150 million term loan facility (the "Term Facility" and, together with the Revolving Facility, the "Senior Credit Facility"). At our election, loans made under the credit agreement bear interest at (1) a LIBOR rate or (2) a base rate as defined in the agreement, plus an applicable margin ( 4.32% as of December 31, 2017 ). The balance outstanding on the Term Facility was $79.6 million at December 31, 2017 , net of deferred financing fees. Quarterly principal payments of $5.6 million are payable on the loans under the Term Facility. The loans made under the Term Facility mature and all amounts then outstanding thereunder are payable on October 23, 2019. There were no borrowings on the Revolving Facility at December 31, 2017 . We are also subject to certain financial covenants, which include maintaining a minimum fixed charge coverage ratio and a maximum consolidated leverage ratio at the end of each fiscal quarter, as defined in the agreement, as amended. At December 31, 2017 , we were in compliance with all such covenants.

Share Repurchase Program

In June 2015, we announced that our Board of Directors had authorized a stock repurchase program for the repurchase of up to $150 million of common stock. As of  December 31, 2017 , we have completed our commitment to repurchase shares under this repurchase program authorization .

During the year ended December 31, 2015, we entered into an accelerated share repurchase agreement ("ASR") with a financial institution to repurchase shares of our common stock as part of our repurchase program. Under the ASR agreement, we purchased $40 million of our Class A common stock at an average price of $17.08 per share, resulting in approximately 2.4 million shares. We also entered into a $10 million agreement to repurchase shares under a Rule10b5-1 plan during the year ended December 31, 2015. Under this agreement, we received approximately 0.6 million shares at an average price of $16.15.

During the year ended December 31, 2016, we entered into an ASR agreement with a financial institution for the purchase of an additional $50 million of our Class A common stock. Under this ASR agreement, we repurchased approximately 2.2 million shares at an average price of $22.54 per share.

During the year ended December 31, 2017, we entered into an ASR agreement with a financial institution for the remaining $50 million of our Class A common stock authorized for repurchase. Under this ASR agreement, we repurchased approximately 1.3 million shares at an average price of $38.64.

In May 2017, our Board of Directors authorized, subject to regulatory approval, expansion of our stock repurchase program by an additional $150 million. In light of the number of new enterprise-level programs now planned to launch in early 2018 that may require additional capital to support our internal and regulatory capital and liquidity requirements, management and our Board of Directors do not intend to seek regulatory approval until such time we believe capital levels are ample to support a repurchase program, which we believe would be, at the earliest, in the latter part of 2018.

Contractual Obligations

Our contractual commitments will have an impact on our future liquidity. The following table summarizes our contractual obligations, including both on and off-balance sheet transactions that represent material expected or contractually committed future obligations, at December 31, 2017 . We believe that we will be able to fund these obligations through cash generated from operations and from our existing cash balances.

In addition to the above contractual obligations, our definitive agreement to acquire all of the equity interests of UniRush provides for a minimum $4 million annual earn-out payment for five years following the closing.

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

During the year s ended December 31, 2017 , 2016 , and 2015 we did not have any relationships with unconsolidated organizations or financial partnerships, such as structured finance or special purpose entities that would have been established for the purpose of facilitating off-balance sheet arrangements or other contractually narrow or limited purposes.

Statistical Disclosure by Bank Holding Companies

As discussed in Part I, Item 1. Business, we became a bank holding company in December 2011. This section presents information required by the SEC's Industry Guide 3, " Statistical Disclosure by Bank Holding Companies ." The tables in this section include Green Dot Bank information only.

Distribution of Assets, Liabilities and Stockholders' Equity

The following table presents average balance data and interest income and expense data for our banking operations, as well as the related interest yields and rates for the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016 and average balance data for the period ended December 31, 2015 :