Wal-Mart's Sam's Club chain is teaming up with a lender to offer loans of up to $25,000 to small-business members.
The program is one of several steps the retail giant has made to offer banklike financial services to customers, in part to help them spend. It also comes as Wal-Mart tries to improve profitability at its warehouse club chain.
The division of Wal-Mart Stores, which is based in Bentonville, Ark., is testing a program with Superior Financial Group, one of 13 federally licensed non-bank lenders, and will offer $5,000 to $25,000 loans to members who qualify. They don't have to spend the money at Sam's Club.
Sam's Club says 15% of its business members reported in a Novermber survey that they had been denied a loan. That's up from 12% in April 2009.
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