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Walmart to create fintech start-up with investment firm behind Robinhood
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/11/walmart-to-create-fintech-start-up-with-investment-firm-behind-robinhood.htmlWalmart said Monday that it’s creating a fintech start-up with Ribbit Capital, one of the venture capital firms behind Robinhood.
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Walmart already offers some financial services for customers. For example, it has Walmart MoneyCard, a prepaid debit card that customers can load with money and use for purchases. The card has some features that encourage money management or help people who may have a challenged credit history, such as no overdraft fees, no monthly fee and no minimum balance requirement.
The retailer also offers alternative payment plans for customers on a tight budget, such as layaway and Klarna, an online financial services option that allows shoppers to buy an item immediately and pay in installments.
Walmart’s co-owner of the new company, Ribbit Capital, has a history of investing in fintech companies. Its portfolio includes Robinhood, a fee-free investing start-up; Credit Karma, a company that offers consumer-friendly tools like free credit score checks; and Affirm, a financial lender that offers customers alternative payment options like buying now and paying later.
...
Walmart already offers some financial services for customers. For example, it has Walmart MoneyCard, a prepaid debit card that customers can load with money and use for purchases. The card has some features that encourage money management or help people who may have a challenged credit history, such as no overdraft fees, no monthly fee and no minimum balance requirement.
The retailer also offers alternative payment plans for customers on a tight budget, such as layaway and Klarna, an online financial services option that allows shoppers to buy an item immediately and pay in installments.
Walmart’s co-owner of the new company, Ribbit Capital, has a history of investing in fintech companies. Its portfolio includes Robinhood, a fee-free investing start-up; Credit Karma, a company that offers consumer-friendly tools like free credit score checks; and Affirm, a financial lender that offers customers alternative payment options like buying now and paying later.
In other news...
Walmart Is Adopting Socially Responsible Policies. ESG Funds Are Taking Notice.
https://www.marketwatch.com/articles/walmart-stock-could-benefit-as-esg-investors-add-it-to-their-funds-51610151686
Lots of companies have gotten serious about environmental, social, and governance issues in recent years. But few are more surprising than Walmart.
That’s not just because of its sheer size—2.2 million employees, 11,500 retail locations, and revenues that exceed the gross domestic product of most countries—but also because Walmart (ticker: WMT) has long been anathema to socially conscious consumers and investors. Environmentalists bemoaned the company’s massive carbon footprint, gun safety advocates criticized it for selling assault-style rifles, and workplace advocates demanded that it raise its hourly minimum wage.
“They’ve gone from being seen as a problem to becoming a significant part of the solution,” says John Streur, the CEO of Calvert Research and Management, a leader in ESG research and investing.
Early last year, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon began a two-year term as chairman of the Business Roundtable, the CEO trade group that recently said that corporations must act on behalf of all stakeholders, not just shareholders. In Walmart’s 140-page ESG report, McMillon writes, “There are a lot of stereotypes out there about Walmart. It’s no secret to us that we have critics who assume we’re doing business at the expense of people and the planet—that we’re all talk. The fact is, though, we’ve been working hard to use our scale to create positive change for a long time now.”
That’s not just because of its sheer size—2.2 million employees, 11,500 retail locations, and revenues that exceed the gross domestic product of most countries—but also because Walmart (ticker: WMT) has long been anathema to socially conscious consumers and investors. Environmentalists bemoaned the company’s massive carbon footprint, gun safety advocates criticized it for selling assault-style rifles, and workplace advocates demanded that it raise its hourly minimum wage.
“They’ve gone from being seen as a problem to becoming a significant part of the solution,” says John Streur, the CEO of Calvert Research and Management, a leader in ESG research and investing.
Early last year, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon began a two-year term as chairman of the Business Roundtable, the CEO trade group that recently said that corporations must act on behalf of all stakeholders, not just shareholders. In Walmart’s 140-page ESG report, McMillon writes, “There are a lot of stereotypes out there about Walmart. It’s no secret to us that we have critics who assume we’re doing business at the expense of people and the planet—that we’re all talk. The fact is, though, we’ve been working hard to use our scale to create positive change for a long time now.”
