BENTONVILLE, Ark. – January 8, 2007 – Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE) has launched a unique technology solution to make it easier for Wal-Mart customers to use flexible spending account (FSA) debit cards at any Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club to pay for health care or dependent care merchandise and expenses that are approved for reimbursement as part of a flexible spending account benefit plan.

Wal-Mart’s Inventory Information Approval System (IIAS) will allow customers to pay for FSA eligible health care merchandise with their FSA debit card. The IIAS solution works by automatically identifying FSA eligible merchandise, which have a unique identifying number, as items are scanned during the checkout process. Once all items have been scanned, a total is displayed for the entire transaction showing both FSA and non-FSA merchandise. If the customer wishes to use an FSA card for payment of FSA eligible merchandise, they can simply swipe their card at the debit reader and then pay for the non-FSA merchandise with another form of payment.

“The system will be seamless for customers,” said Alberto L. Dominguez, director of third party administration for Wal-Mart Pharmacy, “because it maintains a list of approved health care merchandise so customers will no longer have to separate merchandise at checkout or wonder what is eligible for payment with an FSA card.”

Consumers can use their FSA on a wide range of eligible merchandise and expenses that are available at Wal-Mart and Sam’s Clubs locations from prescription glasses to over-the-counter cold, flu and allergy products, Dominguez said.

An FSA is an employer-sponsored benefit plan that allows employees to voluntarily withhold a portion of their paycheck to pay for approved health care expenses on a pre-tax basis.

About Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT)
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. operates Wal-Mart discount stores, Supercenters, Neighborhood Markets and Sam’s Club locations in the United States. The Company operates in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Japan, Mexico, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico and the United Kingdom. The Company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol WMT.

More information about Wal-Mart can be found by visiting www.walmartfacts.com. Online merchandise sales are available at www.walmart.com.


About Sam’s Club
Sam’s Club (www.samsclub.com), a division of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., is the nation’s largest warehouse chain in the United States serving small business owners and operators. The purchasing agent of choice, Sam’s Club provides everyday low cost to more than 47 million entrepreneurs and consumers.