Wal-Mart to sell Visa debit cards

Posted Jun 20th 2007 8:20AM by Zac Bissonnette
Filed under: Products and Services, Wal-Mart (WMT), Marketing and Advertising

Nearly two weeks ago Douglas McIntyre and Brian White blogged about Wal-Mart's (NYSE: WMT) intention to become a credit company and offer pre-paid shopping cards. The Wall Street Journal expands on Wal-Mart's plans to market a Visa debit card under its own name at about 4,000 U.S. Wal-Mart and Sam's Club locations. This is the latest in a series of moves designed to expand Wal-Mart's presence in the financial services space, although the company withdrew its application for an industrial loan bank charter.

The card will target lower-income workers who don't have bank accounts, and can be loaded with paychecks at Wal-Mart stores. The cards will sell for about $9, in addition to monthly fees and charges for loading funds.

Wal-Mart's not the first company to offer such a service but, if it provides consumers with a good value, this could be one of Wal-Mart's most socially responsible product innovations in a long time. Many workers who don't have bank accounts rely on expensive check-cashing services, and Wal-Mart may be a more affordable alternative to that.

Tags: Debit Cards, DebitCards, Visa, Wal-Mart, WMT