Wal-Mart is facing stiff opposition towards the company's proposed expansion into banking. An executive for the retail giant defended the company's proposal at the first-ever public hearing by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. on a bank application.
Wal-Mart insists that retail banks and consumers have nothing to fear and the company will stay away from consumer lending and branch banking. Critics portray Wal-Mart's plan leading towards full-scale banking with retail branches that would destroy local banks.
"Wal-Mart's record in communities across America reveals a company that ruthlessly wipes out important community businesses," said Robert E. McGarrah Jr., an official with the AFL-CIO.