Shipt and Landing founder Bill Smith a key figure in $1 billion fintech deal

Birmingham tech founder Bill Smith is involved in both ends of a fintech deal that could total more than $1 billion.

Green Dot Corp. Monday announced it has entered into agreements to be acquired by Smith Ventures and CommerceOne Financial Corp.

According to a news release, Smith Ventures will acquire and privatize Green Dot’s non-bank financial technology business assets and operations, which will continue running as an “independent and growth-focused fintech and embedded finance company.”

At the same time, CommerceOne will acquire Green Dot Bank to create a publicly traded bank holding company working with the fintech firm.

Under the terms of the deal, the bank holding company will serve as the exclusive bank sponsor for the fintech’s digital banking and embedded finance platform, an