The country’s largest retailer, Wal-Mart Stores Inc., has announced that it will allow its customers to now make store-to-store money transfers within the United States at cut-rate fees. According to a report by Bloomberg News, the American multinational retail corporation threatens to upend another piece of the financial services industry. Wal-Mart is offering a new way for its customers to transfer money. The service is called Wal-mart-2-Wal-mart, and the service allows people to transfer up to $900 a day to and from any U.S. Wal-Mart store.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. remains a family-owned business, as the company is controlled by the Walton family, who own over 50 percent of Wal-Mart Stores. It is also one of the world’s most valuable companies. Wal-Mart is also the largest grocery retailer in the United States. In 2009, it has been reported that the company generated 51 percent of its $258 billion sales in the U.S. from its grocery business. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. also owns and operates the Sam’s Club retail warehouses in North America. It is the world’s 18th largest public corporation, according to the Forbes Global 2000 list, and the largest public corporation when ranked by revenue.
Lower-income consumers have been a core demographic for Wal-Mart, but according to the New York Times, in recent quarters those shoppers have turned more frequently to shopping in dollar stores. The Economic Policy Institute estimates that between 2001 and 2006, Wal-Mart’s trade deficit with China alone had eliminated nearly 200,000 U.S. jobs.
According to the New York Times, while alternative financial products may give consumers access to services they might otherwise be denied, people who are shut out of the traditional banking system can sometimes find themselves paying higher fees for transactions as basic as cashing a check.
Although the “Supercenter” portion of the name on these stores has been phased out, as of January 2014, there were 3,273 Walmart Supercenters in the United States. The largest Supercenter in the United States, covering 260,000 square feet and two floors, is located in Crossgates Commons in Albany, New York.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. already provides money transfer services through longtime partner MoneyGram International Inc. as well as Xoom Corp., so according to the Star Tribune, Wal-Mart Stores appears to be undercutting its own existing services.
A spokeswoman for Wal-Mart reported that Wal-Mart will continue to offer the other services and called them a “great option” for transferring money to other countries, or to non-Wal-Mart locations, according to the Star Tribune. If you would like more information about employment with Walmart Stores Inc. you can click here.
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