Some banks hold less money in deposits than Starbucks has loaded onto its loyalty cards. It may seem strange that people store money on a loyalty card, but according to a recent Wall Street Journal study, Starbucks has around $1 billion on its loyalty cards.
This leads to the question of whether Starbucks can be considered a bank, even though its loyalty cards are not traditionally categorized as bank cards. The fact remains that the coffee chain has more money deposited on its loyalty cards than certain US financial institutions, such as California Republic Bancorp, Mercantile Bank, and Discover Financial Services.