NEW YORK — Wal-Mart Stores, the world’s largest retailer, has been adding financial products for people who don’t have bank accounts. Now it’s targeting those who do.

A prepaid debit card called Bluebird, created through a partnership with American Express, will be available in more than 4,000 U.S. Wal-Mart stores and online next week, the Bentonville, Ark.-based company said Monday in a statement. Services include direct deposit, automatic bill pay and remote check capture using a smartphone application. The card has no monthly or annual fees, and doesn’t require a minimum balance.

“Bluebird is designed as a checking and debit alternative,” Daniel Eckert, vice president of financial services for Wal-Mart U.S., said in an interview. The product is for “those customers who are waking up to the skyrocketing costs of having a checking account.”

Wal-Mart abandoned plans to start its own bank in 2007 amid opposition from legislators and financial-services companies. At the time, the retailer’s application to open a so-called industrial bank in Utah would have enabled it to process credit- card and debit card transactions internally.

The retailer has been adding financial services and products to boost store visits in the U.S. after so-called same- store sales declined for two years through July 2011, according to Matt Arnold, an analyst for Edward Jones & Co. in Des Peres, Mo. Bluebird will probably appeal to the low-income consumers Wal-Mart depends on because they can often only afford basic accounts without such features, he said.

“There’s still a huge piece of the population that doesn’t enjoy that, and for them this could wind up being a better alternative,” said Arnold. The card appears to be created to increase store traffic and relevance rather than profit, he said.

U.S. sales at Wal-Mart fell in part because it removed items from the stores, making it less of a one-stop shopping experience, Arnold said. While Bluebird won’t have a major impact on results, it could help improve that aspect, he said.

“Anything they can do that adds to the one-stop shopping opportunity will only help their relevance,” Arnold said.

Bluebird had been tested in some stores in the United States since 2011. During the pilot phase, Wal-Mart learned that its customers wanted the account to offer many of the services that banks offer without the fees, Eckert said. U.S. consumers pay an average of $259 a year for a basic checking account, Wal-Mart said in the statement, citing a study by Bretton Woods.

Wal-Mart is further capitalizing on its push for Congress to cap debit-card “swipe” fees charged to merchants, a Dodd- Frank Act provision that has cut annual revenue at the biggest U.S. banks by about $8 billion. The payments industry predicted that lenders would impose checking-account fees in response to the legislation, pushing lower-income consumers out of the banking system.

The agreement may help American Express expand beyond its core credit- and charge-card business and drive more spending to its global payments network. Targeting Wal-Mart customers also contrasts with AmEx’s historic focus on affluent consumers.

Wal-Mart and American Express are backing the start of the program with a national marketing campaign that will include television ads, Eckert said.

A Bluebird starter kit will sell exclusively in Wal-Mart locations for $5. It will be merchandised at checkout and at the front of stores, Eckert said. Consumers can also go to Bluebird’s website and sign up for free.

Wal-Mart declined to disclose the financial terms of the partnership. Bluebird can only be used where American Express is accepted, Eckert said.