CorpWatch : US: Wal-Mart Bank faces tough opposition

CorpWatch : US: Wal-Mart Bank faces tough opposition: "The FDIC hasn't issued a comment on the letters.

Wal-Mart spokesman Marty Heires said the company hopes that 'people understand the scope of the [proposed] bank operation' and insisted that the company, which has 1,100 third-party bank branches already in its stores and 300 more commitments to open branches, isn't interested in opening branches of its own.

The Independent Community Bankers of America, which is leading the charge against the formation of a Wal-Mart bank, isn't buying it.

'Fifteen years ago, Wal-Mart said it had no designs on the grocery business and 20 years ago, they said they had no designs on the hardware business but now they dominate both businesses,' said ICBA president and chief executive Camden Fine. 'You have to judge future action based on past record.'"