From the Wall Street Journal By KAREN TALLEYWal-Mart Stores Inc., years after a failed effort to obtain a bank charter, plans a 50% increase this year in the number of the company's stores offering bank-like services.
The expansion would push the number of Wal-Marts with "Money Centers" to 1,500, or a little less than one for every two Wal-Marts in the U.S., giving the nation's biggest retailer a financial presence that only a handful of banks have. Wal-Mart plans to open its 1,000th money center Tuesday.
The money centers cater to millions of the retailer's lower-income customers who don't have a bank account or significant relationships with a bank. The federal government estimates that the category accounts for one in four U.S. households. Click here to read the entire article.
What would you predict would happen to the banking industry if more retail stores follow this path?
1 comment:
I think regular banks would become obsolete because people trust Wal-Mart and well established retail stores so if a better deal is offered there, people will change. Wal-Mart is very profitable already and they don't have a government backing which proves it is not needed. I think that this idea is brilliant on Wal-Mart's part it does get people in the store and they will then choose to pick up things they need at Wal-Mart more than stopping at a convenience store or Target. In today's world it is all about convenience.
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