Walmart

The retail giants are kicking the tires on their own currencies. The potential prize is a way to reimagine prepaid cards and gain a key position as new forms of artificial intelligence-powered payments take off.

Synchrony issued the Walmart credit card for nearly two decades until 2018, when it lost the partnership to Capital One Financial. The latest deal does not include the balances tied to Walmart's existing credit card program.

As Klarna wins installment lending for the retail giant's OnePay app, rival Affirm seeks to downplay the loss.

The payment company's listing comes amid market and political volatility, but the Swedish firm has its strong recent financial performance and distribution deals with JPMorgan Chase and Walmart on its side.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau sued Walmart and payment app Branch Messenger, accusing them of illegally opening 1 million deposit accounts and charging $10 million in fees. Branch said the agency refused to engage in any meaningful way about the matter.

Walmart is pouring more firepower into its fledgling financial venture, signaling its ambition to wade deeper into financial services.

Card networks, fintechs and Walmart have started major account-to-account payment initiatives in the past few weeks.

By enabling instant settlement for bank payments at checkout, the retailer is adding speed to an option that reduces card transaction fees. But getting consumer buy-in may be a challenge.

The Swedish financial institution reports generative artificial intelligence will enable the company to lower headcount, while a digital payment rail is improving the financial performance at Walmart's PhonePe unit.

The retail giants are testing the limits of what customers will allow a generative AI system to do before making a payment.