Online Bank Lets Customers Pay What They Want for Checking

An online-only bank called GoBank will be rolled out in the next several weeks with a buzz-worthy offer: Customers will pay what they think is fair for a checking account—even if that amount is $0 per month, reports MarketWatch. Parent company Green Dot, which provides prepaid debit cards, is hoping to lure younger, tech-savvy mobile users disenchanted with the banking industry. Those customers, however, won't escape all fees.

In fact, the bank hopes to make the bulk of its money from ATM withdrawals and other swipe fees, along with miscellaneous charges for balance inquiries and foreign transactions. So why the pay-what-you-wish offer on checking? The answer might have something to do with free publicity. "In my mind we've already gotten a benefit out of it," Green Dot CEO Steven Streit tells American Banker. "We've got 300 million media impressions." (More GoBank stories.)