Devoted to Managers and those that seek to improve their management skills

Kroger's customers appreciate the company's quiet foray into the personal finance market, as their three-year-old strategy has been growing strongly.

Three years ago, the largest regular grocery chain the U.S. started their personal finance business by offering a Kroger (KR) credit card. Now the company also markets home equity line of credit, insurance and mortgages.

While the division is profitable, Kroger is looking at it more as a marketing tool than adding a lot to the bottom line. Their primary purpose is to draw more traffic into the store and keeping them coming back.

Insurance partner Garden State Life vice president of marketing John Barrett said, "We know Kroger's got a lot of stores and those stores get lots of traffic, so the potential to expose our message to lots of people was certainly there."

Kroger receives fees for offering the services through their partnerships with traditional banks and insurance companies. They market services priced in the mid to lower end of market averages.

Along with a number of gift cards across a variety of industries, Kroger is also experimenting with ATM machines branded with the Kroger name.

Kroger competitor Wal-Mart (WMT) has also been increasing its personal finance business, as it now offers prepaid credit cards through Visa, while adding a number of new "MoneyCenters" in their stores.