Moldy Peaches

Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, wants to open a bank, and its critics are showering American federal regulators with pleas to say no. Wal-Mart's application to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to charter a bank has drawn 1,550 mostly negative comments, the most ever. With bank-charter applications, half-dozen comments are considered a lot, the FDIC says.

Wal-Mart wants to start an industrial loan corporation (ILC), a type of bank that regulators let commercial businesses operate for specific purposes, such as processing payments. Most negative comments stressed the dangers of an unregulated commercial company owning a federally insured bank.

Among the concerns: "Is the parent company sufficiently regulated? Will credit decisions be objective? Will economic power become too concentrated?" says Edward Yingling, CEO of the American Bankers Association, a trade group of independent banks that opposes Wal-Mart's application.

Wal-Mart currently allows about 300 local and community banks to operate branches in more than 1,000 stores on long-term deals. Opponents, ranging from banks to unions, fear that Wal-Mart might someday move to put its own banks in its stores, in turn devastating community banks.

Apparently not everyone is so hot on the idea of more minimum wage, no benefit jobs being created. On the flip side, however, they would be the first bank to have their staff in flare and have grey haired greeters.

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