Saying it hopes to poach customers from mainstream banks, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is rolling out a mobile checking account with a linked debit card – a program that it promised would remain low-cost by eliminating fees charged for overdrafts or failing to maintain a minimum balance.

The monthly membership fee of $8.95 is waived if customers set up direct deposits of at least $500 a month, something that even consumers with subprime credit scores probably would be able to do. Users also may load cash into their accounts at participating stores or deposit checks remotely by taking photos with their smartphones, officials at the Bentonville, Arkansas, company said Tuesday.

The service, known as GoBank, will compete against numerous mobile banking programs now available. It will be operated by Green Dot Corp., a Pasadena, Calif., prepaid-cards specialist that has a subsidiary bank. Green Dot Bank began test-marketing GoBank to customers early last year.

A formal announcement of the new push was to be made Wednesday, according to the companies, which said GoBank would be available in most of Wal-Mart’s nearly 4,300 U.S. locations by late October.

Wal-Mart, which made several unsuccessful attempts to start its own bank about a decade ago, already has about 1,100 financial service offices called Money Centers in its stores, with such “checking alternative” offerings as check cashing, money wiring and bill payment.

But GoBank is the first federally insured bank account the giant retailer has offered. Customers buying the service can pick up a starter kit at Wal-Mart stores, activate the account there with a one-time $2.95 fee and complete the application on their smartphones.

Ron Friedman, a retail expert at consulting and accounting firm Marcum, said financial services, as with grocery offerings, are another way for Wal-Mart to lure fickle customers into stores.

Debit cards should be especially appealing to Wal-Mart’s core customers, many of whom do not have traditional banking accounts, Friedman said.

“This product is really designed toward Wal-Mart shoppers who find themselves dissatisfied or unhappy with the fees and costs associated with traditional banking, as well as customers with a spotty record of managing their account,” he said.


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