BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Since beginning to offer its customers flat, low fee money transfer services in 2014, Walmart announced on Tuesday it has saved its customers over $2.4 billion in fees. With so many of its customers relying on Walmart for their financial needs, Walmart has advocated on their behalf by working with providers to lower fees and create transparency in pricing.

Walmart launched a low-cost and consumer-focused white label money transfer service for transactions sent and received at Walmart locations, known as Walmart2Walmart, in 2014. At launch, Walmart2Walmart offered transfer fees 50% lower than its competition, inducing Walmart’s competitors to set lower fees. Walmart has driven down prices and saved customers in the U.S. more than an estimated $6 billion when one includes the approximately $4 billion resulting from the competitive impact outside of Walmart.

“At Walmart, we have the opportunity to solve problems for our customers. Staying true to Walmart’s Every Day Low Price commitment, we’ve been able to make change in the financial services industry for the better,” said Janey Whiteside, chief customer officer, Walmart U.S. “We’ve enabled family members and loved ones, those underrepresented customers that are un- and under-banked, to move money to one another quickly for much lower fees than ever before. The number of customers who benefited from these decreased fees is even higher when you consider both sender and receiver are our neighbors and Walmart shoppers.”

In 2019, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) estimated that 7.1 million households in the United States were unbanked. In 2017, 48.9 million adults were underbanked, meaning they had a checking or savings account but used financial products and services outside the banking system to meet their financial needs.²

“Walmart is much more than simply a place where people shop. We’re a company customers rely on for so much more, including their financial needs. We’re committed to continuing to build out our financial services offerings and create further financial inclusion for customers,” added Whiteside.