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WASHINGTON (AP) -- Wal-Mart is withdrawing its application for a bank charter --- which was based in Salt Lake City.
This after months of heated debate over whether the world's largest retailer should be allowed to gain the added financial power of a federally insured bank.
The news comes just a day after details came to light of leases Wal-Mart recently signed with banks that operate branches in hundreds of its stores --- reserving the company's right to offer an array of future financial services in its stores.
According to the lease terms --- Wal-Mart can offer future services including mortgages, consumer loans, home equity loans, investment and insurance products and any other type of service or product that the company might develop.
Wal-Mart's application to establish an industrial loan corporation based in Utah had prompted a firestorm of opposition from banks, unions, lawmakers, and consumer and community organizations.
(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
