Meta Financial Group CEO Brad Hanson's decision to step down is a surprise to investors, but is unlikely to change the company's course.
Hanson, 56, will retire on Sept. 30 and begin working on entrepreneurial activities including collaborating with Meta's venture capital arm to improve cross-border remittance options for unbanked consumers sending money between the U.S. and Mexico, the Sioux Falls, South Dakota banking company said Tuesday.
Brett Pharr, who was appointed Meta’s co-president and chief operating officer last year, will take over as CEO on Oct. 1.
Hanson joined MetaBank in 2004 and played a key role in the company’s development of reloadable prepaid debit cards serving unbanked consumers following the 2008 economic crash. He will stay on as a corporate strategic advisor to the bank through the end of next year, it said.
“We have all the confidence that [Hanson’s departure] reflects his drive to build something new after having accomplished his goals at Meta rather than reflecting any negative issues at the bank,” Piper Sandler said in a research note.
“Meta has a deep bench of experienced and highly qualified senior-level executives, and we are pleased to appoint Brett to the role of CEO and to our boards,” Douglas Hajek, chairman of Meta’s board of directors, said in a press release.
Hanson was instrumental to MetaBank’s rise as a major issuer of prepaid cards, which can be used as alternatives to traditional bank accounts.
As MetaBank’s products evolved over the years, the issuer drew heat at times from consumer groups and regulators.
In 2010, the Office of Thrift Supervision issued an enforcement against MetaBank’s iAdvance loan product, and the following year it imposed a consent order resulting in MetaBank paying $4.8 million in reimbursements to certain consumers. The bank was
Eventually Meta became one of the nation’s largest prepaid card issuers — along with Green Dot in Pasadena, California, and The Bancorp in Wilmington, Delaware.
Publicly the opposite of Green Dot’s colorful founder Steve Streit, Hanson stayed behind the scenes while MetaBank steadily expanded.
The Internal Revenue Service early this year selected MetaBank to deliver the second round of federal stimulus payments during the pandemic via 8 million prepaid cards for unbanked consumers.
Hanson was a driving force in MetaBank’s recent success, said Ben Jackson, chief operating officer of the Innovative Payments Association, in a prepared statement.
“A lot of low and moderate income people were left out of the financial mainstream, and MetaBank stepped in and figured out how to serve that audience. They figured out where their strengths were — in banking — and played a key role in building the prepaid card industry,” Jackson said.
Pharr joined Meta in 2019 after serving for decades in various executive positions at Bank of America and Citizens Bank. Anthony Sharett, currently Meta’s executive vice president and chief legal and compliance officer, will become president of the company, it said.
