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GoBank is a banking service designed for the age of the smartphone app

GoBank is a banking service designed for the age of the smartphone app

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GoBank
GoBank

Online-only banking app Simple launched its Android app today, but it already has a new competitor in the form of GoBank. As reported by AllThingsD, the service is the brainchild of prepaid card provider Green Dot. The company bought an FDIC-insured bank in 2011 in order to power the operation, and then last March picked up the location-based app Loopt. The acquisitions have let Green Dot take its stab at rethinking banking with today's beta-only release of GoBank — a beta that is opening to 10,000 users.

As would be expected, GoBank offers savings over traditional banking options. It charges fees for just four discrete actions: $9 for placing a photo on your debit card, $2.50 for using an out-of-network ATM, a three percent fee for spending money outside the US, and the cost of the membership fee itself. That fee is set by the user, however, with the company willing to accept anything between $0 to $9. For that, users will gain access to a GoBank debit card, the ability to send payments to outside parties using the GoBank online checkbook, and access to over 40,000 ATMs free of charge.

Of course, whether the conveniences are enough to lure users away from the safety net of traditional banking institutions still remains to be seen. If you'd like to try GoBank for yourself, you can request an invite to the service now. The GoBank app is available for both iOS and Android devices.