Retailing giant Wal-mart Canada, has received final approval from the Canadian government to establish a bank in Canada, providing much needed competition into an industry that has been much criticized for high prices.

Andrew Pelletier, a spokesman for Wal-Mart Canada, said the company plans to provide “convenient and value-focused financial products and services” for its customers.

Walmart applied almost two years ago to the various banking regulatory bodies, to offer financial services including interest-earning deposits in Canada.

The Canadian banking sector has an oligopoly market structure as six top banks, including the Royal Bank of Canada, CIBC, TD, and Scotia Bank, among the others, essentially keep deposit rates as low as possible to maximize earnings.

Having a company like Wal-Mart Canada whose business model has always been to offer lower prices compared to its competitors can only serve to put some much needed compitition into the Canadian banking sector.

The company plan's to begin offering banking services starting June 15th.

Wal-Mart Canada currently employs 82,000 people in Canada with 300 stores across the country.