Walmart creates fintech startup with Ribbit

Bloomberg

In a bid to better leverage its millions of customers, retail giant Walmart Inc created a fintech startup to win more of their spending.
The company has formed a partnership with Ribbit Capital, an investor in stock-trading platform Robinhood, to start a venture that “will bring together Walmart’s retail knowledge and scale with
Ribbit’s fintech expertise to deliver tech-driven financial experiences tailored to
Walmart’s customers and
associates,” according to a statement.
Financial technology, or fintech, companies aim to give consumers ways to save, borrow and invest online or via phone without dealing with a traditional bank.
Walmart will own a majority of the new venture, but didn’t provide more specific details. The company’s shares gained after the close of regular trading. Meanwhile, a blank-check company set up by Ribbit, surged.
Walmart’s head-to-head competition with Amazon.com Inc means it is increasingly growing beyond retail. The company is trying to reinvent itself, including launching its own low-cost health clinics and getting into the insurance business. On the tech front, it emerged in late 2020 as a potential bidder for TikTok’s US business after earlier in the year selling its Vudu streaming platform to Comcast Corp’s Fandango.
The goal of Walmart may be to build an infrastructure like Alibaba has in Asia, where
it’s both an online retailer and a major financial services provider — all in the same platform.
Walmart has long sought to have a bigger foothold in financial services — interests that can be traced back to at least the 1990s. The world’s largest banks have long rebuffed those efforts, though, arguing that businesses pertaining to finance and commerce should be separate.
Even so, Walmart has its hands in many parts of the financial world.
At Walmart MoneyCenter locations, consumers can cash checks, receive tax preparation services and send money overseas.