Retailers as Bankers

While the activity of retailers may, at first glance, appear of secondary importance to the world of payments, in today’s changing economic landscape it could have big implications, particularly when retailers of the scale of Walmart are involved and with card and payment fees rising.

Just as Walmart has announced that it is linking up with Ribbit Capital to enable it to offer financial services, another retailer, the UK’s Marks and Spencer (M&S), has announce that it will close its three million current accounts and its 29 in-shop branches. M&S Bank was a JV with HSBC.

M&S isn’t the only UK retailer that has had a go at banking, there is also Tesco Bank, Sainsbury Bank, Orange Bank and more, always in combination with an existing bank. Tesco and Sainsbury have behaved as traditional banks rather than as ‘challenger’ banks.