Walgreens Moves into Banking With Its Scarlet Bank Account And Debit Card Debut

Giant pharmacy chain Walgreen Co. is getting into the banking and debit card business with the launch of Scarlet.

Announced Thursday, Scarlet is a Mastercard-branded debit card issued by MetaBank. InComm Payments provides the system for the account. Scarlet works like most bank accounts and is designed to help accountholders improve their financial habits.

Card features include mobile-wallet compatibility, free ATM withdrawals at Allpoint ATMs, and cash rewards on purchases. Account features include potentially early direct deposit, goal-setting tools, mobile check capture, cash back at the point of sale, and the ability to make free person-to-person transfers to other Scarlet accountholders. Consumers also can add cash to their accounts at Walgreens and Duane Reade locations.

“Scarlet is just the latest expansion in the Walgreens financial-services portfolio, which also includes the Walgreens mobile wallet, remittance services, ATM, third-party banking services, and the recently launched myWalgreens Credit Card,” Maria Smith, vice president of payment and financial services at Deerfield, Ill.-based Walgreens, said in a statement. 

Scarlet accounts are FDIC-insured and the service is available online, in the Walgreens app, and at more 9,000 U.S. Walgreens stores.

The launch of Scarlet follows Walgreens’ announcement in late March that it planned to introduce a bank-account offering, backed by InComm Payments, and a Metabank-issued Mastercard debit card.