FDIC plans hearings on Wal-Mart Bank.

(From Electronic Payments International)

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), a banking regulator in the US, will hold public hearings into an application by the proposed banking unit of retail giant Wal-Mart. The retailer's plan to establish a bank faces fierce opposition.

The FDIC will hold hearings in April into an application for federal deposit insurance filed with the FDIC on behalf of Wal-Mart Bank, a proposed industrial loan company (ILC) headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah. ILCs are state banks that are supervised and insured by the FDIC.

Wal-Mart's goal in establishing a bank is to reduce the costs associated with accepting …