MetaBank in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, has settled on a new name: Pathward N.A.
The $7.6 billion-asset company agreed in December to phase out its name within a year as part of
MetaBank's holding company, Meta Financial Group Inc., will become Pathward Financial Inc. by the end of this year, the company said. It had already begun a branding strategy review last year with the goal of unifying its previous acquisitions under a common name.
"Our new name serves as a constant reminder of the importance of creating a path forward for the unbanked, underbanked, and underserved to help them achieve economic mobility," Brett Pharr, CEO of MetaBank, said in a press release Tuesday.
MetaBank operates largely behind the scenes as a banking-as-a-service provider to companies that offer tax services, prepaid cards and other financial products. For example, the IRS used its prepaid cards to disburse stimulus payments to underserved communities, and tax preparers use MetaBank's services to provide refund payments and tax refund advance loans.
MetaBank will keep its existing brands for customer-facing interactions during the yearlong transition, the bank said. Meta Platforms agreed to pay $50 million upon execution of the agreement and $10 million upon the bank's full phaseout of the Meta brand.
Frank Gargano contributed to this story.
