Member FDIC

Or so Wal-Mart hopes. The retail giant is seeking a new bank charter from Utah officials, and has applied for Federal deposit insurance.

Wal-Mart sought an industrial-bank charter because, says the company, it has no plans to enter the retail banking business; it merely wants to cut its expenses for payment processing.

FDIC has already received nearly two thousand comments on the Wal-Mart application, which has spurred the agency to hold public hearings in Washington and in Kansas City.

Relatives of Sam Walton control Arkansas-based Arvest Bank, which has some Oklahoma locations; the new Utah-based bank would have no connections to Arvest.

I don't recall this much fuss when Nordstrom and Target acquired banks for just about the same reasons.

(Via Interested-Participant.)

Posted at 6:20 AM to Common Cents