Walmart Prepares to Offer Low-Cost Checking Accounts

[iammalcolmx]

Thoughts?

www.nytimes.com/2014/09/24/business/finding-a-door-into-banking-walmart-to-offer-checking-accounts.html?_r=0

[Deleted]

I'm sure I'm supposed to feel some kind of way about this but given how many people cash their checks at walmart anyway and that these are the same people who will sign up for these accounts, I just want to know the fee structure, overdraft charges, etc before I have a solid opinion.

[cookiemdough]

What about ATM fees? So physically you have to go to walmart to withdraw funds from your account?

[Velar Fricative]

Sept 25, 2014 8:59:28 GMT -5 @helenabonhamcarter said:

I'm sure I'm supposed to feel some kind of way about this but given how many people cash their checks at walmart anyway and that these are the same people who will sign up for these accounts, I just want to know the fee structure, overdraft charges, etc before I have a solid opinion.

From the article:

"The new accounts from Green Dot, called GoBank, will cost $8.95 a month if they have direct deposits totaling less than $500 a month. Mr. Eckert said that most people on Social Security or fixed pensions would qualify."

But the article mentions no overdraft fees and no minimum account balances.

[Deleted]

So what about the banks that are already in Wal-mart? There was a study earlier this year discussing the insanely high pecenrage of fees that are collected by the banks that currently operate out of Wal-mart as opposed to other bank chains. (Woodforest Bank is the big one here, they are in Wal-marts everywhere and target a particular consumer.)

I wonder if the backlash against those banks convinced Wal-mart they could oust them, offer to slash fees, and roll around in some more cash.

[Velar Fricative]

Sept 25, 2014 9:03:07 GMT -5 cookiemdough said:

What about ATM fees? So physically you have to go to walmart to withdraw funds from your account?

I'm curious about ATM fees too since the article made no mention of this.

I could see $8.95/mo for people earning $500 or less being a lot more enticing when you're otherwise worried about mega overdraft fees and making sure you have a minimum balance when you also need to make sure you can pay the bills with whatever you have in your account, etc. Banks need to make money somehow so this business model might actually work for banks AND for the currently unbanked.

But I want to hate this because it's Wal-Mart lol. I need to look into this further to see if there's some huge glaring catch.

[iammalcolmx]

It will not use a credit bureau rating to determine eligibility, as is typical with most checking accounts, instead potential customers only need to pass ID verification.

I wonder if that means they do not use Chexsystems. If not I am feeling OK about this.

[zane]

Jumping out of lurkdem. They had a piece about this on the radio yesterday (I think NPR). Regarding overdraft fees, they will not charge when for overdrafting but will freeze the account until funds are added. It sounded like there might be additional consequences of frequently over-drafting, but they didn't really have details. I believe they also said that the account would be free if able to keep a minimum balance of $500.

[iammalcolmx]

Sept 25, 2014 9:03:07 GMT -5 cookiemdough said:

What about ATM fees? So physically you have to go to walmart to withdraw funds from your account?

You actually don't. I checked the free Gobank ATM's near me just to see. You can go to Walmart, Target, Wall-greens, and a few Credit Unions.

[ringstrue]

They've been expanding their Bluebird card benefits (that's the name, right?) for awhile. I'm not surprised this is a new angle they are trying.

[Deleted]

I also heard on NPR that Walmart is also looking into opening up health clinics link I think Walmart wants to become the Costco from Idiocracy 

[laurenpetro]

i overheard 2 guys talking about establishing credit one day and they were talking about how hard it is to get a checking account. if this is a step for these guys that won't kill them then i can't say i'm against it provided fees won't kill them.

[jln]

There are lots of "banks" out there that use the pay-as-you-go model with a monthly fee, but no overdraft fees. It doesn't surprise me that Wal-Mart wants a slice of that pie.