How Wal-Mart and Google could steal young customers from traditional banks

It used to be that the JPMorgans of the world only worried about losing customers to Wells Fargo or Bank of America. But that universe of competitors has grown to include T-Mobile, Wal-Mart, Google and a host of other retail, tech and telecom companies that are now operating like banks. The biggest game-changer for traditional banks is Wal-Mart's incremental expansion into consumer banking. The world's largest retailer has rolled out everyday low prices on check cashing, money-transfer and checking accounts in the last few years. When Wal-Mart teamed with American Express to launch the prepaid Bluebird card as a low-cost alternative to checking accounts, the pair attracted one million customers in less than a year.

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