Walmart gets into the banking industry, which could help the one in three Oklahoma households that are unbanked or underbanked.
The retailer’s GoBank checking account doesn’t require a credit check, but it does cost $2.95 to open and comes with a monthly fee for some account holders. Inger Giuffrida with Oklahoma Jump$tart Coalition said fees are one reason people avoid banks.
"The difference being that it's not a bank or a credit union that people may be less familiar with," Giuffrida said. "People are very familiar with Walmart, and so there's a familiarity there that breeds some comfort that they may not have at a financial institution."
The state has one of the nation’s highest rates of families not served by traditional banks and number of Walmarts per million residents. Giuffrida said people should also consider online banks, community banks and credit unions.
"All of these institutions offer some sort of financial education, either independently or in partnership with an organization like the Oklahoma Jump$tart Coalition, to try to help people sort of develop the skills or knowledge around what it takes to maintain a checking account once it's open," Giuffrida said.
Walmart says GoBank has no balance requirements or overdraft fees, but the checking account costs $8.95 a month without a direct deposit of $500 or more.
