With roughly two million active cards as of June 30, 2010, NetSpend is the second largest US provider of general-purpose reloadable prepaid debit cards (GPR cards), which are primarily designed for the 60 million "underbanked" customers in the US who lack full access to traditional checking and savings account. The company's customers are attracted to the card's convenience, lack of overdraft fees and minimum balances, and as many banks are turning away low-income customers, NetSpend cards represent an alternative to cash for many customers. With $7.6 billion of transactions made using its cards in 2009, representing a 40% share of this nascent market, NetSpend is one of the two clear leaders in this fast-growing space. Its $200 million IPO will follow in the footsteps of closest competitor Green Dot (GDOT), which had a very well received IPO in July. Goldman Sachs, BofA Merrill Lynch and William Blair are the lead underwriters on the NetSpend deal, which is one of five scheduled on the IPO calendar for the week of October 11.
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