Our wallets are getting sore these days. After billions already in taxpayer handouts, it turns out that Bank of America executives will need another $34 billion dollars from us.
Do they deserve it? Are they grateful for the billions they've already received? Are they trying to use the money judiciously? Not unless you count corporate jets and bloated executive salaries as responsible spending.
Bad corporate behavior by Bank of America is nothing new. They have a long history of doing things that put America at risk.
So with everything we know about Bank of America, it seems like Americans should be wary of letting a company like Wal-Mart anywhere near financial services. Everyone knows of Wal-Mart has a long history of putting its own interests ahead of anyone else. We know Wal-Mart doesn't pay its taxes, it steals time from its workers by violating simple laws like lunch breaks, and it sells unsafe products that hurt or even kill people. So how can we trust it with a bank?
A couple years ago, Americans decided they couldn't and thousands wrote the FDIC to petition the agency to block a Wal-Mart bank application. But since then, Wal-Mart has been trying to edge their way back into the money game through the back door.
Over the last few years, Wal-Mart has developed an interest in providing alternative financial services - including check cashing, general purpose prepaid cards, money order purchase and bill payment - to unbanked and underbanked consumers. Among regular check cashing store customers, 92% shop at Wal-Mart at least once per three-month period. Still, less than half of the surveyed population cash checks at Wal-Mart stores, with most preferring traditional check cashing centers due to a perceived convenience. Wal-Mart sees this potential to expand their business.
'Alternative' financial services are a lucrative market these days; a study by First Data, a financial transaction technology company, found that 78 million Americans either use no financial services, or are underserved. Given that many of these customers are lower-income and many shop at Wal-Mart, it's no wonder the retailer sees an opportunity.
Another report from Aite Group, an industry research and advisory firm, puts Wal-Mart's current market share of 'alternative' financial services at 11%. Some analysts, including Seeking Alpha, claim that the retailer has distinct advantages in offering financial services: in-store convenience, and potentially lower costs than check-cashing or money wiring businesses.
Right now is a time for better, more accountable banks. Not Wal-Mart banks.
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