The bank industry has fought tooth and nail to keep Wal-Mart from infringing on its territory. But while the world's largest retailer was kept at bay for two decades, its recent partnership with Green Dot Bank shows that the Arkansas-based company continues to harbor designs on the financial services industry.
At the end of September, the companies announced the nationwide rollout of GoBank, a checking account product available exclusively on Wal-Mart's shelves. According to the press release, a GoBank account won't charge overdraft fees, minimum balance fees, or monthly fees with qualifying direct deposits; it will be available nationwide by the end of this month.
"Wal-Mart customers want easier ways to manage their everyday finances and increasingly feel they just aren't getting value from traditional banking because of high fees," noted a Wal-Mart spokesman. "Adding the GoBank checking account to our shelves means our customers will have exclusive access to one of the most affordable, inclusive and easy-to-use checking accounts in the industry."
In the video below, Motley Fool analysts John Maxfield and Michael Douglass discuss this latest move.
