Walmart: FinTech Ambition, Poaches Goldman Bankers

Walmart enlists the help of two Goldman Sachs executives to set up a new FinTech business as the retail giant starts banking, Bloomberg reports.

The drivers are Omer Ismail and David Stark, the report reads.

Ismail is the head of Goldman’s commercial bank and is making a “surprise exit” to FinTech.

And Stark, according to the release, is one of Ismail’s top lieutenants at Goldman and will join him.

In response, Goldman said he has “serious momentum and a deep and growing bank of talent”, wishing the two former employees well. Ismail formally took control of the consumer bank at the beginning of the year and has just helped implement the bank’s strategy for Marcus – the largest project in thirty years.

Meanwhile, Stark has just participated in credit cards in Goldman’s work with Apple and was named head of the major partnerships just a few weeks ago.

Walmart’s tactics of taking away teammates from Goldman Sachs show its commitment to the world of banking, Bloomberg writes, pointing out that the retail giant intends to engage in the financial activities of its customers. According to Bloomberg, the company works with Ribbit, an investment firm.

Walmart CEO Doug McMillon recently said the company is working on becoming a super-app called PYMNTS. McMillon said his goal was to make Walmart the ‘primary destination’ for its customers and become an ecosystem that includes both physical and digital needs, to combat the encroachment of Amazon’s multitude of services over the past few years.

Walmart is expanding through partnerships with Shopify for a third-party market, along with its commitment to healthcare with the Walmart Health Centers. It also works with e-commerce, logistics, supply chain, inventory, Buy Now Pay Later services and other applications.