The Power of Prizes: $2 Billion Moved Through the Walmart MoneyCard Vault

Two years after Prize Savings launched, we're excited that Walmart customers have moved $2 billion through the Vault, a safe and accessible savings pocket of the Walmart MoneyCard prepaid card.

Making saving fun and exciting with innovative solutions like Prize Savings is part of our strategy to help people across the country become more financially secure.  We’re proud to continue to help Walmart customers save in a high-utility financial product, which allows users to easily build up and withdraw the funds in their Vault in response to their financial needs. Launched in 2016 as a collaboration between Walmart, Green Dot, and Commonwealth, Prize Savings is the first national, retail, and prepaid card based prize-linked savings program in the country. The program is growing and so is the prize pool. Every dollar saved in the Vault (up to $500) now earns an entry for one of 1,000 cash prizes. There are 999 $25 prizes and a grand prize of $1,000 every month encouraging participants to hold on to their savings without any risk.

Two billion dollars saved is just the beginning. To move the needle on the $400 savings crisis, we need more cross-sector collaboration like this one between an innovative nonprofit, a forward-thinking financial institution, and one of the largest retailers in the world. Savings is a financial challenge for virtually all demographics. Engaging non-traditional actors in unique partnerships will help ensure that we are mitigating barriers to saving creatively and effectively.

You can learn more about this work by checking out our most recent publications and media coverage on prize-linked savings: