Bank of Wal-Mart
“Despite being pilloried by the public lately, a banker’s lot can’t be all that bad. At least, that’s what Wal-Mart executives must be thinking.” Forbes on the retail giant’s new banking ideas.
“Over the past year, [Wall-Mart] have unveiled one plan after another aimed at getting a bigger share of the U.S. retail banking market, which could be good news for some and bad news for others. It started in August 2009 when Wal-Mart’s ‘Money Centers’ began offering bill payment services. … Wal-Mart wants to attract a different consumer segment than traditional banks–customers who are ‘unbanked’ (people without access to mainstream financial services) or ‘underbanked’ (people not using mainstream financial services regularly). According to a 2009 study from the FDIC, one-quarter of all households in the U.S. have few, if any, bank accounts.”
