Walmart accommodates unbanked

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has launched a "pay with cash" option on its website that enables customers to shop online but pay in stores. Here, a Wal-Mart worker pulls carts at a store in Pittsburg, Calif., in June 2011.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has launched a “pay with cash” option on its website to enable consumers to select items they want to buy online, and then pay for them in a store using cash.

The new initiative is aimed at giving consumers without access to bank or credit card services the ability to shop Walmart.com by reserving items online and then paying cash for their purchase in a local Walmart store within 48 hours. Items would then be shipped to their home or to the store.

Almost 8 percent of U.S. households – an estimated 9 million people -- are “unbanked,” meaning they have no checking or savings accounts, according to 2009 federal data. And about 18 percent, or 21 million people, are considered ‘underbanked,’ meaning they have checking or savings accounts but rely on alternative financial services such as check-cashing services, payday loans or money orders to get by.

A majority of purchases in Walmart stores already are made with cash or a cash equivalent, the retailer said in a news release. Only 15 percent are paid with credit.

The company said it is seeing more demand for cash options online. A recent Walmart survey found more than two-thirds of consumers who were underbanked said they would likely pay with cash online if the option were available.