• Bloomberg reports that "a group of bankers advising the Federal Reserve urged U.S. regulators to consider preventing Wal-Mart Stores Inc. from offering some financial services.
"The Federal Advisory Council, a body of bankers that includes PNC Financial Services Group Inc. (PNC) and BB&T Corp., said at a Dec. 19 meeting that Wal-Mart’s sales of prepaid cards warranted greater federal oversight."
The story goes on to say that minutes from the meeting "outline bankers’ views on Wal-Mart’s entry into services that they traditionally provided to consumers, as well as their concern that a new competitor might face less stringent oversight by the government.
"The council urged the Fed to consider limiting payment-related services to 'regulated banking institutions,' or at least step up its study of the business. It also said the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, created by the 2010 Dodd-Frank law, should supervise non-bank companies that provide financial services."
"The Federal Advisory Council, a body of bankers that includes PNC Financial Services Group Inc. (PNC) and BB&T Corp., said at a Dec. 19 meeting that Wal-Mart’s sales of prepaid cards warranted greater federal oversight."
The story goes on to say that minutes from the meeting "outline bankers’ views on Wal-Mart’s entry into services that they traditionally provided to consumers, as well as their concern that a new competitor might face less stringent oversight by the government.
"The council urged the Fed to consider limiting payment-related services to 'regulated banking institutions,' or at least step up its study of the business. It also said the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, created by the 2010 Dodd-Frank law, should supervise non-bank companies that provide financial services."
- KC's View:
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The banks will do anything to keep Walmart out of the banking business. I'm not saying that having Walmart as a national banker would necessarily be a great idea, but I do think it would change the face of banking, and force a lot of these traditional financial services companies to compete in a way that is unfamiliar to them. Which might be a good thing.
