Wal-Mart Stores (WMT) & American Express (AXP) Announces Prepaid Card, Affymetrix, Inc.(NASDAQ:AFFX) Slumps On Earnings

New prepaid card from Wal-Mart, American Express

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.(NYSE:WMT) and American Express Company(NYSE:AXP) are coming together to offer a reloadable prepaid card called Bluebird to shoppers. The companies said that they had conducted a pilot program last year for the same. The new card will have no minimum balance. Also it will not have any monthly, annual or overdraft charges. They are providing this card as an alternative to debit cards and checking accounts. It can enable consumers to manage and exercise control over their finances better.

Consumers were increasingly complaining about the rising fees of debit cards and checking accounts. Based on this feedback, the Arkansas based company Wal-Mart and the New York based American Express created the Bluebird. The card will be available next week on the site www.bluebird.com and also in more than 4000 stores of the world’s largest retailer.

Affymetrix 3Q revenue to be below street expectations

Affymetrix, Inc.(NASDAQ:AFFX), the life science instrument company, believes that its third quarter revenue will be below Wall Street’s expectations, because of tighter academic funding conditions globally. Analysts anticipate revenues of $84.6 million. But Affymetrix expects to clock in $80 million as quarterly revenue, of which the eBioscience division is likely to contribute $18 million.

The company has said that the current situation has hurt its gene expression an eBioscience divisions the most.

According to president and CEO Frank Whitney, the revenue for 2012 will be flat to slightly lower than that of the previous year, due to tighter funding conditions and a weaker euro. The revenue for 2011 was $267.5 million. The California based company will declare the results for the third quarter on October 31.

Shares of AFFX slumped 15% to $3.66 and made a new low of $3.45.