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Walmart is partnering with Ribbit Capital, an investor in stock-trading platform Robinhood, to "deliver tech-driven financial experiences tailored to Walmart's customers and associates. Walmart, which already offers a number of financial products, including credit cards, cheque cashing, money transfers and installment financing, has yet to give any specific details on its product plans, although partnerships with other fintechs and acquisitions are written into the business blueprint.

In 2007, Walmart withdrew an application for an "industrial bank charter" that would have allowed it to lend money and back deposits with a government guarantee. Opposition from banks and credit unions had been too fierce. They claimed a Bank of Walmart could pose systemic risks in the financial sector. Now they're taking another crack at it by partnering with venture capital firm Ribbit Capital to create a new fintech firm. Details are scant. But the timing is noteworthy. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp, which backstops bank deposits, has just approved new rules that will make it easier for non-banks to get into banking.

Walmart is looking to hire an expert in "digital currencies/cryptocurrency and blockchain related technologies" to develop the firm's 'digital currency strategy and product roadmap' and identify 'crypto-related investment and partnerships'. The Senior Director position will be based in Walmart's corporate offices in Bentonville, Arkansas.

Walmart has partnered with coin-cashing machine company Coinstar and crypto-cash exchange CoinMe to set up a pilot of 200 Bitcoin ATMs in its stores across the US. The wider launch aims to eventually see the installation of 8,000 bitcoin ATMs across the country. These Bitcoin ATMs have an 11% surcharge, consisting of a 4% fee for the Bitcoin option, and an extra 7% cash exchange fee. In comparison, popular cryptocurrency trading platforms Coinbase and Binance charge 3.99% and 3% to 4.5% for credit and debit card purchases respectively.

"A venture that's majority-backed by Walmart Inc. is poised to emerge from the shadows this month with digital bank accounts meant for the retail giant's 1.6 million US employees and legions of weekly shoppers. In coming weeks, the company will start offering the accounts to thousands of workers and a small percentage of its online customers as part of an initial beta test of the new service, according to people with knowledge of the matter."

A new patent filing suggests that US retail giant Walmart may be developing a U.S. dollar-backed digital currency-based ecosystem similar to Facebook's Libra's.

SNAP program restrictions for online grocery shopping and delivery contribute to public health threats faced by as many as 35 million low-income Americans during the coronavirus. Major sources of groceries, like Amazon and Walmart, offer online grocery shopping for SNAP benefits through a preexisting USDA pilot program, but only in a handful of states. The incomplete access is another example of social inequity and internet divide exposed by the pandemic.

GooglePay, Walmart-backed PhonePe and AmazonPay, plus Indian fintech firms Cred and Mobikwikare, are reportedly seeking to join the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) e-rupee central bank digital currency (CBDC). Initially, the RBI had permitted only banks to offer e-rupee via their mobile applications, but in April 2024 it said payment firms could also offer e-rupee transactions via their platform once approved by the RBI.

"Essentially, Walmart's offering looks more or less the same as nineteenth-century scrip, issued to company employees who could spend it only in the company's stores. There is no word yet on whether Walmart employees will be paid in WalCoin, but it is a reminder that history has a habit of repeating itself, just with new people and new technologies."

Hyperledger is a collective of open-source blockchains and tools hosted by the Linux Foundation and aimed at enabling enterprises to create their own distributed ledgers. Because Hyperledger is open-source, others can freely build on top of it. Large-scale enterprises such as IBM, Walmart and Fujitsu have developed projects using Hyperledger."

Indian fintech app CRED is reportedly beta testing support for the digital rupee as part of India's central bank digital currency (CBDC) trials. Another app, MobiKwik, is fully in production for Android users. Yes Bank is acting as sponsor bank for both fintechs to enable access to the CBDC. Both wallets also support India's UPI instant payment system. Transaction limits for the CBDC are currently Rupee 10,000 ($115.50) and Rupee 50,000 ($578) per month. Other apps planning to support the digital rupee include Walmart-backed PhonePe, Google Pay and Amazon Pay. PhonePe and Google Pay dominate consumer UPI payments with market shares of 49% and 37% respectively at the end of last year.