International News - US plugs retail banking loophole

The prospect of a 'Bank of Wal-Mart' has been scuppered by US politicians, who closed a loophole that potentially enabled retailers to start their own banks.

Last week, the House of Representatives passed the Banking Regulatory Relief Bill, which included a provision preventing banks being owned by conglomerates such as Wal-Mart.

The National Association of Convenience Stores backed the decision amid fears it would jeopardise community banking services used by small retailers.

Wal-Mart also reportedly suffered a setback in its conversion to RFID, because the first tranche of suppliers failed to provide tagged shipments by the March deadline.

The date has now been put back to June.