In this articleCOFAFRMWMTFollow your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNTCustomers shop in a Walmart Supercenter on February 20, 2024 in Hallandale Beach, Florida.Joe Raedle | Getty Images News | Getty ImagesWalmart’s majority-owned fintech startup One has begun offering buy now, pay later loans for big-ticket items at some of the retailer’s more than 4,600 U.S. stores, CNBC has learned.The move puts One in direct competition with Affirm, the BNPL leader and exclusive provider of installment loans for Walmart customers since 2019. It’s a relationship that the Bentonville, Arkansas, retailer expanded recently, introducing Affirm as a payment option at Walmart self-checkout kiosks.It also likely signals that a battle is brewing in the store aisles and ecommerce portals of America’s largest retailer. At stake is the role of a wide spectrum of players, from fintech firms to card companies and established banks.One’s push into lending is the clearest sign yet of its ambition to become a financial superapp, a mobile one-stop shop for saving, spending and borrowing money.Since it burst onto the scene in 2021, luring Goldman Sachs veteran Omer Ismail as CEO, the fintech startup has intrigued and threatened a financial landscape dominated by banks — and poached talent from more established lenders and payments firms.But the company, based out of a cramped Manhattan WeWork space, has operated mostly in stealth mode while developing its early products, including a debit account released in 2022.Now, One is going head-to-head with some of Walmart’s existing partners like Affirm who helped the retail giant generate $648 billion in revenue last year.Walmart’s Fintech startup One is now offering BNPL loans in Secaucus, New Jersey.Hugh Son | CNBCOn a recent visit by CNBC to a New Jersey Walmart location, ads for both One and Affirm vied for attention among the Apple products and Android smartphones in the store’s electronics section.Offerings from both One and Affirm were available at checkout, and loans from either provider were available for purchases starting at around $100 and costing as much as several thousand dollars at an annual interest rate of between 10% to 36%, according to their respective websites.Electronics, jewelry, power tools and automotive accessories are eligible for the loans, while groceries, alcohol and weapons are not.Buy now, pay later has gained popularity with consumers for everyday items as well as larger purchases. From January through March of this year, BNPL drove $19.2 billion in online spending, according to Adobe Analytics. That’s a 12% year-over-year increase.Walmart and One declined to comment for this article.Who stays, who goes?One’s expanding role at Walmart raises the possibility that the company could force Affirm, Capital One and other third parties out of some of the most coveted partnerships in American retail, according to industry experts.”I have to imagine the goal is to have all this stuff, whether it’s a credit card, buy now, pay later loans or remittances, to have it all unified in an app under a single brand, delivered online and through Walmart’s physical footprint,” said Jason Mikula, a consultant formerly employed at Goldman’s consumer division.Affirm declined to comment about its Walmart partnership.For Walmart, One is part of its broader effort to develop new revenue sources beyond its retail stores in areas including finance and health care, following rival Amazon’s playbook with cloud computing and streaming, among other segments. Walmart’s newer businesses have higher margins than retail and are a part of its plan to grow profits faster than sales.In February, Walmart said it was buying TV maker Vizio for $2.3 billion to boost its advertising business, another growth area for the retailer.’Bank of Walmart’When it comes to finance, One is just Walmart’s latest attempt to break into the banking business. Starting in the 1990s, Walmart made repeated efforts to enter the industry through direct ownership of a banking arm, each time getting blocked by lawmakers and industry groups concerned that a “Bank of Walmart” would crush small lenders and squeeze big ones.To sidestep those concerns, Walmart adopted a more arms-length approach this time aroun …
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[mwai_chat context=”Let’s have a discussion about this article:nnIn this articleCOFAFRMWMTFollow your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNTCustomers shop in a Walmart Supercenter on February 20, 2024 in Hallandale Beach, Florida.Joe Raedle | Getty Images News | Getty ImagesWalmart’s majority-owned fintech startup One has begun offering buy now, pay later loans for big-ticket items at some of the retailer’s more than 4,600 U.S. stores, CNBC has learned.The move puts One in direct competition with Affirm, the BNPL leader and exclusive provider of installment loans for Walmart customers since 2019. It’s a relationship that the Bentonville, Arkansas, retailer expanded recently, introducing Affirm as a payment option at Walmart self-checkout kiosks.It also likely signals that a battle is brewing in the store aisles and ecommerce portals of America’s largest retailer. At stake is the role of a wide spectrum of players, from fintech firms to card companies and established banks.One’s push into lending is the clearest sign yet of its ambition to become a financial superapp, a mobile one-stop shop for saving, spending and borrowing money.Since it burst onto the scene in 2021, luring Goldman Sachs veteran Omer Ismail as CEO, the fintech startup has intrigued and threatened a financial landscape dominated by banks — and poached talent from more established lenders and payments firms.But the company, based out of a cramped Manhattan WeWork space, has operated mostly in stealth mode while developing its early products, including a debit account released in 2022.Now, One is going head-to-head with some of Walmart’s existing partners like Affirm who helped the retail giant generate $648 billion in revenue last year.Walmart’s Fintech startup One is now offering BNPL loans in Secaucus, New Jersey.Hugh Son | CNBCOn a recent visit by CNBC to a New Jersey Walmart location, ads for both One and Affirm vied for attention among the Apple products and Android smartphones in the store’s electronics section.Offerings from both One and Affirm were available at checkout, and loans from either provider were available for purchases starting at around $100 and costing as much as several thousand dollars at an annual interest rate of between 10% to 36%, according to their respective websites.Electronics, jewelry, power tools and automotive accessories are eligible for the loans, while groceries, alcohol and weapons are not.Buy now, pay later has gained popularity with consumers for everyday items as well as larger purchases. From January through March of this year, BNPL drove $19.2 billion in online spending, according to Adobe Analytics. That’s a 12% year-over-year increase.Walmart and One declined to comment for this article.Who stays, who goes?One’s expanding role at Walmart raises the possibility that the company could force Affirm, Capital One and other third parties out of some of the most coveted partnerships in American retail, according to industry experts.”I have to imagine the goal is to have all this stuff, whether it’s a credit card, buy now, pay later loans or remittances, to have it all unified in an app under a single brand, delivered online and through Walmart’s physical footprint,” said Jason Mikula, a consultant formerly employed at Goldman’s consumer division.Affirm declined to comment about its Walmart partnership.For Walmart, One is part of its broader effort to develop new revenue sources beyond its retail stores in areas including finance and health care, following rival Amazon’s playbook with cloud computing and streaming, among other segments. Walmart’s newer businesses have higher margins than retail and are a part of its plan to grow profits faster than sales.In February, Walmart said it was buying TV maker Vizio for $2.3 billion to boost its advertising business, another growth area for the retailer.’Bank of Walmart’When it comes to finance, One is just Walmart’s latest attempt to break into the banking business. Starting in the 1990s, Walmart made repeated efforts to enter the industry through direct ownership of a banking arm, each time getting blocked by lawmakers and industry groups concerned that a “Bank of Walmart” would crush small lenders and squeeze big ones.To sidestep those concerns, Walmart adopted a more arms-length approach this time aroun …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]
