Wal-Mart Applies to Open Bank

Wal-Mart has applied for a bank charter in Utah in order to process credit-card transactions rather than outsource them to a third-party processor.

While this move has many bankers worried, I think this is great for consumers. If Wal-Mart enters the financial services arena, it will force bankers to come up with better - and cheaper - services for its customers. A business like Wal-Mart can't be all things to all people, but banks have been able to operate in some markets as oligopolies for years without improving their products or services. Maybe Wal-Mart will help them do that.