Steve Streit
Steve Streit (full name: Steven W. Streit[1]) is an American business executive, venture capitalist, and serial entrepreneur.[2] He is likely best known as the inventor of the prepaid debit card industry, the founder of Green Dot Corporation, the founder and lead partner of SWS Venture Capital, and the founder of the non-profit Patti's Way.
Steve Streit's persistence and drive for innovation has given him a reputation as a disruptor and forward-thinking industry leader.[3][4][5]
Contents
Career
Early career
Before founding Green Dot, Steve Streit worked for nearly 20 years in the radio broadcasting industry, where he was responsible for establishing many radio formats that still exist today. He is also an executive producer in the film industry. Streit executive produced two documentaries, Out of Omaha and Wrestle, with the latter receiving an Emmy Award nomination.[6]
Green Dot Corporation
Steve Streit founded Green Dot Corporation in 1999. From 1999-2001 Green Dot was run out of Steve's home from a small table in his bedroom serving as headquarters. Meetings with the tiny staff were held in the home's dining room. By the end of Steve's tenure as CEO, Green Dot would have over 1000 workers in offices and operation centers throughout America and China, provide banking services for more than 50 million customer accounts on its broad array of platforms and generate over $1 billion in annual revenue. Additionally, as the CEO of Green Dot, Streit led several initiatives such as:[7]
- Green Dot Bank (the first de novo bank application of its kind approved by the United States Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System)
- Green Dot Reload Network
- GoBank (the nation's first fully mobile bank account whereby customers could both open the account and access all features on the account via their smartphones)
- Green Dot "BaaS" (an open, yet secure, API-driven banking platform that could allow other large enterprise level companies to utilize Green Dot's well established, high-scale banking and operational infrastructure)
SWS Venture Capital
In 2018, Steve Streit founded SWS Venture Capital, a venture capital firm that he intended to help fund new and promising companies across several different industries, including fintech, health-tech, consumer platforms/products, and others. SWS Venture Capital aims to partner with strong entrepreneurs who have both the passion and skill to disrupt their respective industries and a clear path to creating products, services and technologies that serve customers for the better.
Patti's Way
Steve Streit is also the founder of Patti's Way, a 501(c)(3) charitable foundation. The foundation was founded in 2010 in honor of Steve's mother. Patti's Way is dedicated to helping children and their single parents or guardians make it through financially challenging times through grants and advocacy.[8]
Awards and recognition
The following is a selection of Steve Streit's various awards:[9][10]
- Ernst & Young (EY) Entrepreneur Of The Year 2005 Southern California Award
- Ernst & Young (EY) Entrepreneur Of The Year 2011 National Financial Services Award
- CoachArt - Heart and Humanity Award 2011[11]
- Los Angeles County Technology Week - Technology Leadership Award 2011[12]
- Prepaid Industry Leadership Award 2008[13]
- Bank Innovation's 10 Most Innovative CEO's in Banking[14]
- LAPD Hollenbeck Police Activities League (PAL) - Humanitarian Award
Personal life
Steve Streit has 7 children. He currently resides in Naples, FL .[15]
