BANKING ON CANADA…?
Earlier I wrote about how Wal Mart’s quest for a banking license was all but dead on the table (I still don’t give up on the Frankenstein option, with the Bentonvile behemoth, you never know) but then I read this post from a blogging banker:
At the Forrester conference in May, I blogged about Wal-Mart trying to get into banking in the US, which has successfully been lobbied into submission. So here comes the Canadian angle.
From Canada’s National Post:
Wal-Mart Canada Corp. is looking to expand into the financial services business, a potentially lucrative growth area as the retailing price war intensifies over food, clothing and other consumer staples.
The big-box giant recently hired Trudy Fahie as vice-president of financial services at Wal-Mart Canada, a role created for assessing the retailer’s options in the sector. Ms. Fahie is the former vice-president of financial services for American Express Canada.
“We will be looking at a range of possible financial services to enhance our offering to our customers,” Andrew Pelletier, a spokesman for Wal-Mart Canada, confirmed yesterday, calling the next six months to a year an “exploratory” period. “It’s too early to speculate on what those services will be at this point.”
I left a comment asking if this in any way could be an end run around the rejection here in the United States. I don’t know enough about banking laws, but with Wally World I’m suspicious, always.
[...] The question from Jeff was “Can this in any way be used as an end run around the opposition in the United States?”, and Jeff started it off on his blog here. [...]
[...] Could Wal Mart being planning an end run around banking regulations in the United States by getting clearance for owning a bank in Canada? Maybe. the Banking blogger at Bankwatch has this to say: [...]
[...] BANKING ON CANADA…? Earlier I wrote about how Wal Mart’s quest for a banking license was all but dead on the table (I still don’t give up on the Frankenstein option, with the Bentonvile behemoth, you never know) but then I read this post from a blogging banker: Keep reading… [...]