Green Dot Executive Resigns

Green Dot Corp. president of cards and network Mark Troughton has resigned, the prepaid card company said Wednesday.

The Monrovia, Calif., card company said Troughton will "pursue new start-up opportunities" after he leaves at the end of the month. Green Dot would not provide a further explanation for his departure or make him or Chief Executive Steve Streit available for comment.

Troughton has been with Green Dot almost since its inception. He took the company through its initial public offering in 2010, and late last year saw it become the first prepaid marketer to gain a bank charter.

"He was the No. 2 guy at the company, and his interest was in start-ups," said Wedbush analyst Gil B. Luria. "He got to a point where his mission [at Green Dot] was complete."

After he leaves, Troughton's responsibilities will be split between two executive vice president positions. Kostas Sgoutas and Eric Duehring, both Green Dot division heads, will be promoted to those newly created posts.

In a press release, Green Dot CEO Streit cited the "almost nine years" he and Troughton spent together "as friends and partners" and said, "While we will all miss Mark, I am confident that Eric and Kostas will energize our revenue initiatives company-wide."

But some industry analysts raised their eyebrows at yet another executive-level departure at Green Dot. The company has lost several executives since the summer, says Thomas C. McCrohan, managing director for equity research at Janney Montgomery Scott in Philadelphia.

"In the last few months you saw the head of marketing leave [and] the head of IT," he says.

Troughton's departure is "likely not incrementally positive" for Green Dot, he adds.