Steve Streit
Steve Streit (full name: Steven W. Streit[1]) is an American entrepreneur, venture capitalist, business executive, and philanthropist.[2] As the founder and longtime chief executive of Green Dot Corporation, he helped popularize the prepaid debit card industry — a consumer-friendly alternative to high-interest credit cards.[3]
In the years leading up to his retirement from Green Dot Corporation, Streit founded and continues to lead SWS Venture Capital, a venture capital firm focused on early and late stage opportunities. Streit is also the founder of the non-profit Patti’s Way, which supports community-building initiatives across the United States. Throughout his career in business and philanthropy, Streit has cultivated a reputation as an innovator who’s not afraid to disrupt the status quo.[4][5][6]
Career
After attending the University of Florida, Steve Streit pursued a career in radio broadcasting. During his approximately two decades in the business, Streit helped establish multiple new radio formats that remain in fashion today. He also worked as a documentary film producer and notched two notable executive producer credits: Out of Omaha and the Emmy Award-nominated Wrestle.[7]
Steve Streit moved on from the entertainment business in the late 1990s, when he founded Green Dot Corporation. During the first two years of its existence (from 1999 to 2001), Streit ran Green Dot out of his home, with a small bedroom serving as his office and the dining room as the conference center for the company’s tiny staff.
Green Dot didn’t stay small. By 2019, when Streit stepped down as CEO, Green Dot had more than 1,000 employees working at multiple regional offices and operation centers in the United States and China. The company counted more than 50 million customers and more than $1 billion in annual revenue from operations.
During his 20-year tenure as Green Dot CEO, Streit oversaw the creation of the first modern de novo bank approved by the Federal Reserve (Green Dot Bank), established a distributed network of retail partners for prepaid debit card customers (Green Dot Reload Network), spearheaded the first fully mobile bank account meant to be managed via smartphone (GoBank), and developed a secure, open, API-driven banking platform that allowed other enterprises (including nonbanks) to utilize Green Dot’s banking and financial technology capabilities (Green Dot “BaaS”).[8]
In the years leading up to Steve’s retirement from Green Dot, Streit founded SWS Venture Capital, an investment firm focused on high-potential early-stage enterprises in healthtech, fintech, consumer products, and many more. Through SWS, Streit and his team partner with ambitious, driven entrepreneurs that aim to disrupt their industries and deliver solutions that make life easier, more productive, or more profitable for consumers and businesses.
Awards and honors
Streit has earned numerous accolades during his time in the fintech business. They include the Ernst & Young (EY) Entrepreneur Of The Year 2005 Southern California Award and Ernst & Young (EY) Entrepreneur Of The Year 2011 National Financial Services Award, the Los Angeles County Technology Week - Technology Leadership Award 2011[9], and the Prepaid Industry Leadership Award 2008.[10][11][12] He has also been named Bank Innovation’s 10 Most Innovative CEOs in Banking.[13]
Philanthropy
Steve Streit is an active philanthropist. In 2010, he founded Patti's Way [14] , a 501(c)(3) charitable foundation, in honor of his mother, who treated everyone with kindness and grace. Patti’s Way supports single parents or guardians and their children tackle financial adversity with grants, advocacy, and logistical support.[15]
Streit earned the LAPD Hollenbeck Police Activities League (PAL) Humanitarian Award for his community-building activities in Los Angeles, where he resided for a time.[16] Also in 2011, he earned the CoachArt Heart and Humanity Award link.
Personal life
Steve Streit has seven children, five of whom are adopted. He lives with his family in southwestern Florida.[17]
References
- ↑ Bloomberg.
- ↑ Community Banking.
- ↑ SWS Venture Cap.
- ↑ Bloomberg.
- ↑ Crunchbase.
- ↑ LinkedIn.
- ↑ Steve Streit's official website.
- ↑ Ideamensch.
- ↑ Steve Streit biography. Kansas City Fed.
- ↑ Bondbuyer.com.
- ↑ American Banker.
- ↑ Kansas City Fed.
- ↑ SWS Venture Cap.
- ↑ "Steve Streit | Patti's Way" (in en). https://www.pattisway.org/steve-streit.
- ↑ Community Banking.
- ↑ Lapd Hollenbeckpal.
- ↑ American Banker.
