Walmart Pay 'Close to Surpassing' Apple Pay in U.S. Mobile Payments Usage

[iapplelove]

I was so happy to set up Apple Pay 3 years ago when I bought my 6 plus.

But sadly 3 years later I can’t even remember the last time I went somewhere that accepted Apple Pay.

Maybe not Apples fault but disappointing just the same.

 

[Phonephreak]

Welp, they just jinxed any chance of that happening by saying it to the public.

PS. Walmart is just one server breach away from people never using Walmart Pay ever again.​

As is any company that stores credit card info. This includes Apple.

 

[rjtyork]

I doubt there will ever be a reason I’d use Walmart Pay. I hardly shop there, and if I do, I like to swipe my PayPal card and get 1% cashback. Not to mention the idea of standing in line for customer service if there’s ever an overcharge or a hack or any kind of problem keeps me away, too. I love using Apple Pay. Works for me at all my usual places and it’s so nice to forget my wallet sometimes. Can’t wait until I can forget my wallet all the time.

 

[nfl46]

I'm surprised it took so long before we got the, "Ewe, Wal-Mart comments." I remember when Wal-Mart starting selling Apple products. The guys on here nearly lost their minds.

 

[iapplelove]

Who cares about Walmart ? Is accepted only on Walmart, as ApplePay "everywhere"

“Everywhere” that accepts Apple Pay which still isn’t many places.

Walmart is taken just at Walmart and it’s still kicking Apples butt lol and Apple Pay is taken at more places.

 

[JohnApples]

That's my problem with apple pay. Unless I see a sticker saying that it works I don't even try. I can't tell you how many times I looked like an idiot trying to pay with my phone only to find out it doesn't work.

Another problem is that some places, even with an ApplePay/NFC sticker, keep the POS terminal behind the counter.

Tim Hortons, McDonalds drive thru, and a bunch of local shops downtown do this. It’s incredibly awkward asking “Hey, can you hand me the credit card reader so I can tap my phone on it?”

 

[Jefe's MacAir]

You do realize that Square makes this, right?: https://squareup.com/contactless-chip-reader

Not only do they make it, they gave you one if you were a current customer when the new rules rolled out. We had Apple Pay and card reader availably before Walmart, Target, and many, many larger corps.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

@Chupa Chupa there is actually such a thing as chili chocolate granola bars? My mind is blown. I do like chili. I love chocolate. I’m good with granola. I can’t imagine them together. I only go to Walmart when I’m down south. Next time I go, I’ll go seek out this strange treat you mention.

Don't mean to hijack the thread here but yes, and they are amazing. Just the right amount of spice + chocolate. So spicy hit followed by tiny bit sweet but not candy bar sweet. They use to sell them everywhere but then one day poof! and I made a panicked web search to see if anyone else sold them -- afraid they were discontinued. I found them at Amazon but then saw a local WM had them for less. So you might check out Amazon too. Also your local grocery stores could have them. None around here -- Safeway, Giant, Harris Teeter, Shoppers do though.

HERE is the product link on the Nature Valley site.

 

[Lepton]

So once they surpass it, can they put their pride away for a minute and accept ApplePay? People are trying to give you money! Help them do it, idiots!

 

[spacemnspiff]

Well we know this "study" wasn't peer reviewed. Walmart Pay is accepted in Walmart and Walmart and Walmart... Apple Pay is accepted in many stores. This is a comparison of two very different things. If Walmart Pay branches out and is accepted at other stores then we can start to make the comparison.

Exactly, what an idiotic comparison. Yay 5% of Walmart shoppers love Walmart pay.

My anecdotal usage of using Apple Pay is 30-40% of all my shopping.

 

[Jefe's MacAir]

IIRC, Walmart offered Apple Pay and then pulled it's support.

 

[639051]

Well Walmart is awful and it's why the only time I go there is when there is zero other option.

 

[H3LL5P4WN]

Screw Walmart and everything they stand for.

You day will come, Walmart. No one will stop the Amazon steamroller.

I have the pipedream that Amazon will be a much better (for the people, their employees, and the environment) megastore than The Blue Devil ever could hope to be.

 

[luisfrocha]

So what I came away with was:

1. Walmart’s engineers found it too complex to implement Apple Pay, but not too complex to implement a similar system from the ground up
2. Walmart Pay will soon surpass Apple Pay at Walmart stores? If Walmart Pay is the only option at their stores, wouldn't it have surpassed it on day 1?

 

[Lepton]

Another problem is that some places, even with an ApplePay/NFC sticker, keep the POS terminal behind the counter.
Tim Hortons, McDonalds drive thru, and a bunch of local shops downtown do this. It’s incredibly awkward asking “Hey, can you hand me the credit card reader so I can tap my phone on it?”

When ApplePay first came out, McDonald's was an early adopter. But you can't use it at the drive through. Oh, they say they will take it, but when I asked, first they asked for my phone, which I told them I can't do because it needs my fingerprint, then they spent several minutes untangling the register thing so they could hold it out the window. Silly. Even now I don't bother asking at the window. Works great inside, though.

 

[shyam09]

You day will come, Walmart. No one will stop the Amazon steamroller.

AmazonPay, AmazonPay, AmazonPay!

 

[The Cappy]

Well we know this "study" wasn't peer reviewed. Walmart Pay is accepted in Walmart and Walmart and Walmart... Apple Pay is accepted in many stores. This is a comparison of two very different things. If Walmart Pay branches out and is accepted at other stores then we can start to make the comparison.

I thought the same thing.
“...will soon beat Apple Pay in the U.S., "in terms of use by shoppers in stores where they're accepted."”
What kind of comparison are they actually making? The numbers could differ by a factor of 100 with that type of hedge.

 

[MVallee]

In Canada just about every retailer accepts Apple Pay. The only ones I can think of that don’t are Walmart and Home Depot.

 

[AdonisSMU]

Unsurprising. Apple pay is basically Walgreens pay.

Most merchants aren't even sure if and what NFC they support and it seems to rarely be Apple based on waving my phone around.

And small businesses are almost exclusively square these days.

Square has support for Apple Pay. They even have it in their advertisements on TV. NYC has lots of small businesses and I use Apple Pay every time.

 

[shyam09]

[QUOTE="MacRumors, post: 25415805] One analyst pointed out this is likely because Walmart owns and controls the mobile wallet software and "can make quick changes."[

/QUOTE]​

Yes because everyone consumer who shops at walmart is concerned about how controls the mobile wallet software and that they can make quick changes.


Maybe, just maybe the adoption rate is high for Walmart shoppers because it's easy to use and that's the only thing form of mobile payment Walmart accepts (besides SamsungPay, but I don't think they can block that).

Lookie here, I'm an analyst now too.

 

[Arty6]

Walmart shoppers who already put up with cheapened brand name products made exclusively for Walmart to be sold at a lower price and who shop at a place that offers a consistent terrible customer experience are incentivized to use the app with a terrible customer experience that they are willing to put up with to save a little bit more. This does not spell doom for apple pay. This is just indicative of the Walmart ecosystem. No different than membership cards. It is a membership card on an app that is linked to your checking account so you don't have to pay separately. I would imagine it probably also has many security vulnerabilities. Have fun Walmart shoppers because you just don't know any better.

 

[ryanissamson]

It's not a knock on Apple Pay at all, IMO. Walmart Pay is a great service. I can scan the QR code at the start of my order and it: 1. Applies any gift cards I have. 2. Stores the receipt for Savings Catcher 3. Pays for the order with my preferred card. And I have a record of the order for budgeting.

I love Apple Pay and I love Walmart Pay. It doesn't have to be one or the other.

 

[iapplelove]

So once they surpass it, can they put their pride away for a minute and accept ApplePay? People are trying to give you money! Help them do it, idiots!

This is what I think when I shop at stores with perfectly good NFC terminals but won’t accept Apple Pay. CVS is a big one. They turned Apple Pay off 2 weeks after it came out in favor of CVS Pay.

However most Samsung units still work at these terminals, no issues.

 

[Rogifan]

If only Apple would incentivize companies to switch to NFC faster. They're just hoping that companies adopt NFC because users want it, but clearly this isn't happening fast enough.

It would also be great if Apple used just a small portion of their profits to create an incentive for consumers, like getting iTunes credit for ever X amount of money spent or transactions made. Samsung Pay and Android Pay both have similar promotions. The problem is corporations aren't willingly switching to NFC just because a very small user base want it.

Also I think Apple needs to do more marketing/education to get people using it and knowing where they can use it. I never see commercials on TV for Apple Pay. I never see any advertising for it on social media. I’ll bet a lot of people set up their cards and then don’t use it because they forget or aren’t sure if the store they’re at accepts it. Makes me wonder how Apple is going to market and educate people on P2P payments when that’s implemented.

 

[dohspc]

Walmart pay is ok, once you have the app setup it works pretty fast. Plus I like how you have all the receipts in the app. I’ve even gotten cash back via their savings catcher program. It’s not as slick as Apple Pay but it does work fairly well at Walmart.