Coles Myer shops for financial services

Australia's biggest retailer Coles Myer is considering offering financial planning services to customers, according to chief executive John Fletcher.

However Fletcher, speaking in an early morning interview on Channel Nine's Business Sunday program yesterday, said the retailing giant would not look to directly move into the banking space but rather would consider linking up with an institution to offer the services.

“Whether or not we can add value to those [financial planning] services is quite a different question to [whether] we want to be a bank,” he said.

The comments follow Coles Myer launching an Insurance Claim Card last week that could be used by customers to purchase replacement items if, for example, their house was burgled.

Fletcher said the group also has a wide scope for extra offerings and he added that the retailer was only “just scratching the surface in loyalty and cross-brand loyalty” products.

Coles Myer may also be interested in setting up pharmacies in its supermarkets, something that has already been flagged by Woolworth’s.

“We've got an interest in anything that is going to be something that's convenient and valuable to customers,” Fletcher said.

After a difficult few years, he said, the retailer also planned to discuss capital management possibilities with ratings agency Standard & Poor's (S&P).

"We now expect to sit down with S&P… to talk about what now for options for shareholders, whether it be share buybacks or any other thing that we can look at,” Fletcher said.