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Republic Bancorp (RBCAA) is increasing its stake in the tax refund services business by buying the banking operations of H&R Block (HRB).
July 11 -
Republic Bancorp's deal to buy the bank operations of H&R Block collapsed because of regulators' apparent concerns about the mixing of banking and tax-refund processing. The deal would have helped restore a business already bruised by conflicts with regulators.
October 9
BofI Holding (BOFI) in San Diego has agreed to buy certain assets and all the deposits of H&R Block Bank.
The $3.6 billion-asset BofI said in a press release late Thursday that its BofI Federal Bank will also provide H&R Block-branded financial products through the tax preparation firm's retail and digital channels.
BofI said it the H&R Block agreement to add about $26 million to $28 million in revenue starting in fiscal 2015, based on a projection of the volume of financial services products to be sold. The company said it expects to complete the transaction before next year's tax season.
H&R Block (HRB) originally
The agreement "adds to the growing list of companies and associations offering the bank's products to their clients, customers or constituents," Greg Garrabrants, BofI's president and chief executive, said in the release. "We believe our nationwide low-cost branchless bank is well aligned with H&R Block's desire to provide their clients with affordable banking products and services."
H&R Block had already announced a plan to give up its status as a savings and loan holding company so it would no longer be subject to regulation by the Federal Reserve Board.
BofI did not say how much it would pay, or how many deposits it would acquire. Terry McEvoy, an analyst at Oppenheimer, wrote in a note to clients that H&R Block Bank could have $450 million to $550 million in customer deposits and balances held on prepaid cards, gift cards and incentive cards.
