Walmart

The retailer and credit card giant are rolling out two new card offerings. The move could hit especially close to home for CUs with branches inside Walmart locations.

Tennessee-based Tractor Supply Co. originally sold farming tools by mail, but digital technology has put the expanding 81-year-old company at the forefront of loyalty marketing.

Ever since Amazon.com Inc. bought Whole Foods in 2017 for $13.7 billion, shoppers and investors alike have wondered how the e-commerce giant would integrate the upscale grocer into its sprawling online operation. Now, after two years of tinkering, Amazon is betting big on quick delivery from Whole Foods.

The launch of the products comes more than a year after Capital One wrested the Walmart partnership from Synchrony Financial.

In a sign of how much Walmart Inc. is betting on e-commerce, the retailer’s revamped credit-card program with Capital One Financial Corp. offers better rewards for online shopping and checking out with its mobile app.

Apple keeps sweetening the deal for prospective Apple Card users, with Walgreens the latest to offer cash-back rewards.

Its newest offering is called Delivery Unlimited, which at $98 a year undercuts Amazon Prime's $119 fee.

Issuers like Chase and Citi that added installment features to compete with digital lenders will need to think beyond traditional card options.

Anticipating recession, banks start scrubbing loan books; how Trump's political appointees thwarted tougher settlements with two big banks; the Fed's plans on its real-time payment service; and more from this week's most-read stories.

There are subtle differences in Walmart's virtual currency project compared to Facebook's Libra, but these may be enough to avoid the regulatory firing squad that Facebook has endured.