Copyright 2009 The Tulsa World

August 26, 2009 Wednesday
Final Edition

Business; Pg. E3

404 words

LAURIE WINSLOW World Staff Writer

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is targeting millions of Americans who pay bills in person by offering a walk-in bill-paying service at its stores. The world's largest retailer Tuesday announced the nationwide launch of the service, saying it will allow customers to save money on bill-pay transactions and pay bills in person outside of regular work hours.

With the service, which is being offered at Walmart MoneyCenters and customer service desks located in Walmart stores nationwide, customers can pay utility, landline phone, cable-satellite, credit card, auto and wireless phone bills. The service provides convenient, affordable options to the growing number of financially underserved Americans who do not use traditional checking accounts to pay bills, officials of the Bentonville, Ark.-based retailer said. According to research commissioned by Wal-Mart, more than 21 million households pay at least one bill in person every month. "We're introducing Walk-in Bill Pay nationwide to provide another affordable money service option that will help families manage their monthly budgets so that they can save money and live better in these tough economic times," said Jane Thompson, president of Walmart Financial Services, in a written statement. The study by Aite Group found that paying bills in person remains mainstream among a large segment of Americans who make less than $45,000 per year. Often, these consumers use third-party, walk-in bill payers. "Customers choose to pay in person for practical reasons such as getting a printed receipt to confirm payment, paying with cash, holding on to their money longer and paying bills closer to the due date," said Gwenn Bezard, research director of Aite Group, in a written comment. Wal-Mart began the walk-in bill pay service in February. It is now available at all stores.

Pricing structure of Wal-Mart's walk-in bill payment service: Standard delivery bill pay provided by CheckFreePay delivered within three business days for 88 cents.

Next-day delivery bill pay provided by CheckFreePay delivered the next available business day for $1.88.

Same Day by MoneyGram notification sent to the biller within 10 minutes, starting at $4.50.

Money Orders customers purchase a secure MoneyGram Money Order and pay a bill for 60 cents.

In some of the above examples, payments must be processed at Wal-Mart by 6 p.m. Central time.

Laurie Winslow 581-8466 laurie.winslow@tulsaworld.com

August 27, 2009