Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lane3 who wrote (44383)	5/14/2004 12:09:36 PM
From: LindyBill	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 793841

When I worked south central, the check cashing places were second only to the Liquor outlets. Check Cashing @ WM By Kevin on Prices Wal-Mart announced that it will charge a maximum fee of $3 for cashing preprinted and government checks up to $1000, and will cash the checks of all its employees for free. As you might have guessed, the competition is furious: Free standing check cashing services are not happy about Wal-Mart's newest low priced foray. The California Department of Justice, which regulates the industry, allows check cashers to charge as much as 3.5 percent, depending on the amount of the check, reports the Knight Ridder/ Tribune Business News. Nationwide, there are an estimated 10,000 check-cashing stores that handle an average of 180 million checks a year totaling $55 billion, according to Financial Service Centers of America, the industry's major trade group. About 35 percent of these stores belong to major operations like Ace Cash Express in Irving, Texas, and Berwyn, Pa.-based Dollar Financial Corp., the trade group reports. Smaller companies own the rest. Check-cashing stores primarily serve lower- to middle-income people making less than $40,000 a year and generate fees of about $1.5 billion per year. Many are unable to afford bank account fees or maintain a minimum balance. "It is a very, very competitive business, and very fragmented," said Bernard Flaherty, president and chief executive of Chicago-based Popular Cash Express, a division of Banco Popular and the nation's third-largest check-cashing chain. Folks, this is what WM is doing to the low-end retail sector all around. It is making all sorts of goods, and now services, into commodities. It profits by serving consumers with prices lower than its competition has ever tried: Interestingly, consumer groups are, for once, taking the side of Wal-Mart, reports the Knight-Ridder/Tribune. Many believe check-cashing fees have traditionally been too high and take advantage of lower income people. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., which regulates the country's banking industry, estimates that 10 percent to 12 percent of U.S. households don't have a bank account. Some consumer groups say the number is even higher. The unbanked population, as this segment is called, typically have lower incomes, don't own their homes and are under 35 years old, nonwhite or Hispanic, unemployed and lack a high level of education, the FDIC reports.