Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has dropped the plans to open its own bank, putting an end to a two-year controversy that roiled financial-services companies that feared direct competition from the world’s largest retailer.
Wal-Mart notified the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. that it was withdrawing an application to open a so- called industrial bank in Utah. This unit would have helped to process credit-card and debit- card transactions internally.
