Look, Sam's Club Is Re-Inventing Banking!

Oh my. Once again, our premise holds true: "Retailing is a mirror of society."

All sorts of traditional loan facilities have either dried up or become so very arduous that potential users are discouraged. And this dearth of debt availability - the credit crisis - shows no sign of ebbing.

"Okay," says Sam's Club, "we need to give our customers what they want, in this case, SBA-backed term loans of up to $25,000." And their pilot program has already loaned to about 100 small businesses. Cool, eh?

What we love is watching the competitive juices roil at Costco, Staples, Sears, Office Depot and others. "Let Sam's Club have this 'loyalty program' all to themselves?! Are you mad? No way!"

Banking isn't going away. It's just (finally!) being re-invented, in this case, by retailers who are listening closely to their customers.

My, but this mirror of society can foster some fascinating adjustments, and business opportunities.