Sunday, November 30, 2008

What If Wal-Mart Had Been in Banking?

Wal-Mart: Your New Banker?
blog it
How would our current financial crisis be different if Wal-Mart had been allowed to operate a bank, as outlined by the above Business Week article from 2005? Would things be different?

Because Wal-Mart has built-in profit from retailing and a conservative management style, I suspect its tactics would have been vastly different from the Wall Street financiers who collateralized subprime mortgage obligations.

Instead of preventing Wal-Mart from entering the banking industry, we should have welcomed its competition and learned from its ideas. Shame on traditional bankers for fearing Wal-Mart's rivalry. Good competition should force rivals to focus on serving customers better.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.