Big-box retailers moving into mobile, other payment systems, offering services that are the traditional domain of banks; moves seen as way of avoiding banks' transaction fees

Cindy Allen

LOS , March 2, 2012 (Industry Intelligence) – Big box retailers have begun to move into mobile payment systems, offering services that are the traditional domain of banks, Seeking Alpha reported March 2.

The moves are one way retailers can circumvent banks' transaction fees.

As Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Target Corp. have begun to move into delivering their own mobile payment systems, Home Depot Inc. has rolled out Ebay Inc.’s PayPal unit in its stores.

Although Wal-Mart abandoned its plans to create its own banking division in 2007, the company offers a reloadable pre-paid payment card. It also handles money transfers and cashes paychecks.

While a mobile payments solution gives Wal-Mart, Target or Home Depot an avenue to use customer data to provide instant couponing, these programs are only a short step away from allowing the retailers to act as banks via the use of processors like Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc.

The primary source of this article is SeekingAlpha.com on March 2, 2012.

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