Wal-Mart Names New Head of Financial Services

Jane Thompson, who was in charge of the credit card portfolio at Sears Roebuck (Hoffman Estates, Ill.) when the retailer battled soaring delinquencies in 1997, has reportedly been named president of Wal-Mart Financial Services (Bentonville, Ark.), according to a report in Crain's Chicago Business.

Crain's quoted a Wal-Mart spokesman saying Thompson would oversee Wal-Mart's expansion on the consumer banking and credit fronts. “Jane was just brought in at a more senior level to bring all we're doing under one umbrella,” said the spokesman.

When Thompson was at Sears, so many of the retailer's growing list of delinquent credit card holders filed for bankruptcy protection that the company had to take a $475 million charge to cover legal settlements related to getting bankrupt customers to pay their Sears bills. Thompson left Sears in 1999 to “pursue other interests” and most recently was global director of the consumer strategy practice at Deloitte Consulting in Chicago.