Wal-Mart is renegotiating leases with some of its in-store banks so that the giant retailer has the right to offer mortgages, home-equity lines of credit and consumer loans.
Wal-Mart has been trying to get a banking charter from the Federal government, with no success. But, according to The Wall Street Journal, the company "would be able to offer many banking products without actually owning a bank".
Who is fighting the attempt for Wal-Mart to offer a full line of banking services? Small banks, of course.
But, consumers would certainly be well-served by having the ability to bank inside Wal-Mart’s 3,000 stores. Instead of going to the bank for money and then to Wal-Mart to spend it, customers get one-stop shopping. The theory that this is too much of a mix between commerce and banking is flawed. Wal-Mart is not a casino offering services to compulsive gamblers.
The argument against Wal-Mart offering full bank services is like the argument that Wal-Mart drove thousands of small retailers out of business because the chain could get better prices from suppliers and pass them on to consumers.
That’s life, at least in business. At one point there were over a dozen car companies in the US. Now, there are two with home bases here. So be it.
Douglas A. McIntyre can be reached at [email protected]. He does not own securities in companies that he writes about.
Top Gaining Stocks
Top Losing Stocks