Wal-Mart Does More Good

Because of its success (and that is an understatement), Wal-Mart has faced, for the large part, undeserved criticism. You know the laundry list of complaints: they drive mom-and-pop shops out of business, they exploit their workers, they are racist, they harm the environment, they oppose unionization, they hire illegal workers, yada, yada, yada.

According to an FDIC report, seventeen million U.S. adults live in housewholds where no one has a bank account. Seventeen Million! Many of them are Wal-Mart customers.

Of this group, NPR reports, many go to those lovely check-cashing outfits that “often charge high fees.” (Of course I must pose the question, compared to what? If they all charge high fees, how do we know they are high? Seems that would just be the regular fee.) But assuming they are too high, Wal-Mart has decided to implement its usual policy: lower prices. Wal-Mart launched what it calls “MoneyCenters” where its customers can cash paychecks for between $3 and $6, about one-third of the price other companies charge.

So will the moral crusaders stand up to the evil corporation? Will they come to the defense of the many check-cashing firms that stand to lose in this? I doubt it. I wish the same could be said when Wal-Mart sells food, clothing, furniture, sports equipment, jewelery or anything else at prices reasonable to America’s less fortunate.