Wal-Mart advances Chinese Credit Card Plans

Oh WalMart, what won?t you do to get our attention?

Not satisfied with dominating North America, WalMart has set its sights on China where, according to an article in the Financial Times, the discount giant and scourge of small mom-and-pop hardware stores everywhere is advancing plans to launch its own credit card in a partnership with GE Money and Shenzhen Development Bank.

The card will be a first for everyone involved: this will be WalMart?s first credit card in the Asian marketplace, and it?s also the first of its kind to be issued by a foreign retailer in China.

The card would be issued by SDB, a mid-sized lender in the rapidly developing south of China, with support from GE’s consumer finance unit, which announced plans for a $100m investment in the bank last October.

WalMart?s playing coy with the news, of course. In a statement released by the store, it said that it had not announced any plans in China to launch a credit card. “For obvious competitive reasons, we do not speculate on whether we have specific business plans,” a spokeswoman said.

Some see this move by WalMart as a sign that the beleaguered retailer feels confident that its hopes to open banks in Utah ? ostensibly to process credit card payments, though industry watchdogs fear the worst ? will be met with success despite grave concern from most observers.

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