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Wal-Mart And Ge Consumer Finance Plan To Issue A New Credit Card On The Discover® Network
January 21, 2005
January 21, 2005 – Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT), GE Consumer
Finance (NYSE:GE) and Discover Financial Services,
a business unit of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MWD),
today announced plans to launch a new credit card
on the Discover® Network in a milestone agreement
that will offer Wal-Mart customers more ways and
places to save. The new card, Wal-Mart Discover,
will be issued by GE Consumer Finance and will
be available to customers by March 2005.
“It’s a great card for Wal-Mart customers
shopping in our store and on walmart.com,” said
Jane Thompson, president, Wal-Mart Financial Services.
“It has no annual fee, can be used both inside
and outside of Wal-Mart stores and offers our
customers up to 1 percent back from GE on all
purchases. The customer benefits are a direct
result of our commitment to be the low cost leader.”
“We're excited about this new opportunity
and the ability to reach more Wal-Mart customers
through an expanded credit card program,” said
Mark W. Begor, president and chief executive officer,
GE Consumer Finance-Americas. “This expands our
important partnership with Wal-Mart and allows
us to offer multiple credit products to Wal-Mart
customers, including the Wal-Mart card and now,
the new Wal-Mart Discover, that will offer more
choices to Wal-Mart shoppers and help grow Wal-Mart
sales.”
“GE Consumer Finance, with more
than 100 million credit cards issued through hundreds
of retail partners, is one of the top issuers
of credit cards in the United States,” said David
W. Nelms, chairman and chief executive officer,
Discover Financial Services, Inc. “This partnership
is an example of the possibilities that can be
offered to customers in an open and competitive
market. Our agreement with GE Consumer Finance
is a significant development in our efforts to
form partnerships that expand and diversify the
Discover Network.”
About Wal-Mart
Stores, Inc.
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
operates Wal-Mart Stores, Supercenters, Neighborhood
Markets and SAM'S CLUB locations in the United
States. Internationally, the company operates
in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, Germany,
Japan, Mexico, Puerto Rico, South Korea and the
United Kingdom. The company's securities are listed
on the New York and Pacific stock exchanges under
the symbol WMT. More information about Wal-Mart
can be found by visiting
www.walmartfacts.com. Online merchandise
sales are available at
www.walmart.com.
About GE
Consumer Finance
With $122 billion
in assets, GE Consumer Finance, a unit of General
Electric Company, is a leading provider of credit
services to customers, retailers and auto dealers
in 41 countries around the world. GE Consumer
Finance, based in Stamford, Conn. (USA), offers
a range of financial products, including private
label credit cards, personal loans, bank cards,
auto loans and leases, mortgages, corporate travel
and purchasing cards, debt consolidation and home
equity loans and credit insurance. More information
can be found online at
www.geconsumerfinance.com. GE (NYSE: GE)
is a diversified technology, media and financial
services company dedicated to creating products
that make life better. For more information, visit
the company's Web site at www.ge.com.
About Discover Financial Services
Discover Financial Services, a business unit
of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MWD), operates the Discover
Card with more than 50 million Cardmembers, the
Discover Network with more than 4 million merchant
and cash access locations and the PULSE ATM/Debit
network currently serving over 4,000 banks, credit
unions and savings institutions. For more information,
visit www.discovercard.com,
www.discovernetwork.com
or www.pulse-eft.com.
Contacts:
Beth
Metzler
Discover Financial Services
(224)
405-2209
Peter Tosches
GE Consumer
Finance
(203) 585-6701
Marty Heires
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
(479) 273-4314
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