Starbucks' Cards Hold More Cash Than Some Banks Hold In Deposits

If you think people go to Starbucks Corporation SBUX just to throw a few dollars down for a cup of joe, than you have the culture surrounding the grounds giant greatly mistaken. A report on Marketwatch said customers of the coffee giant have loaded more than a billion dollars onto their Starbucks cards, which can be used for things far beyond a simple cup of dark brew.

Starbucks had $1.2 billion loaded onto Starbucks cards and the Starbucks mobile app as of the first quarter of 2016, the report said, citing a data from S&P. This money can be used to purchase items including drinks, food and other merchandise.

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"As of the second quarter of fiscal 2016, 41 percent of Starbucks transactions in the U.S. and Canada were conducted using a Starbucks card (24 percent of transactions at company-operated retail stores U.S. used the Starbucks mobile app), according to figures Starbucks provided to MarketWatch," according to the report. "The company had 12 million active loyalty members in the U.S. in the second quarter."

In fact, the Starbucks number exceeds the deposits at many banks. A few of those names include California Republic Bancorp CRPB ($1.01 billion), Mercantile Bank Corp. MBWM ($680 million) and Discover Financial Services DFS ($470 million).

The report added the figure far exceeds Green Dot Corporation GDOT ($56 million on deposit), one the largest prepaid-card providers.