Wal-Mart lowers fee for holiday layaway

NEW YORK (AP) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is announcing that it will be lowering its fee that shoppers pay for its interest-free pay-over-time program that it's resurrecting for the winter holidays.

The fee to open up a layaway account will now be $5 instead of $15, the world's largest retailer said Tuesday.

Wal-Mart says the move to cut the fee is in response to customer feedback since announcing last month it would bring back its layaway program for Christmas. The program starts on Sept. 15 and runs through Dec. 14.

The announcement comes a day after Toys R US announced it was waiving the upfront service fee for layaway orders created in store from Sept. 4 through Oct. 31. After Oct 31, a $5 service fee will apply.