Walmart to Begin Accepting Apple Pay in U.S. Stores

[CarlJ]

Everyone assumed that Walmart loved cherished that data they were getting from people’s credit cards ...

I suspect they do/did love and cherish that data, but if corporate thinks they're losing sales by not supporting tap-to-pay, that can outweigh the value of the data.

Also, I think a factor with their Walmart Pay app was getting people to give them bank account and routing numbers, so they could direct transfer out of your account - less fees for them than credit card transaction percentages and less protections for the consumer (if they accidentally take $1,000 instead of $100, it's already gone out of your account and you have to argue to get it back - if you pay by credit card, you can dispute the charge before it ever comes out of your bank account).

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

Imprinters don’t use magnetic stripes.

I think the person you quoted was saying two different things, both of which were happening in 2027.

 

[JosephAW]

Wonder if this is anything related to the 2027 barcode upgrade mandate where a lot of point of sales systems need to be upgraded to accept the new QR codes so the terminal will be upgraded as well. 🙄

 

[emcampbe]

So, in other words, Walmart finally got it through their heads that people didn’t prefer to join a proprietary system only available at Walmart where they have to open a another app, click to find a QR code and then have it read by a machine?

In other words, people prefer to take a universal payment system that only requires holding their phone up to the terminal and authenticating vs. a multi-step method? Who could’ve figured that out in 10 years (oh….right…everyone else!)

 

[mwhite]

That’s complete nonsense and you know it. NFC is a form of technology that shares specific information. Walmart wouldn’t be able to block one type of NFC payment and not another.

That's the idea, but that's not always the case. Apple Pay was not accepted at the Korean restaurant I went to, only Samsung Pay. They flat out told me this.

Also, same thing happened to me at my local grocery store, come to think of it. They were accepting Samsung Pay too, but not Apple Pay. I tried. Apple Pay finally worked some time later.

All of this was nine years ago, 2017 for the restaurant. The grocery store may have been sooner.

 

[Zman5225]

best news of the week 😀

 

[BruiserB]

That's the idea, but that's not always the case. Apple Pay was not accepted at the Korean restaurant I went to, only Samsung Pay. They flat out told me this.

Also, same thing happened to me at my local grocery store, come to think of it. They were accepting Samsung Pay too, but not Apple Pay. I tried. Apple Pay finally worked some time later.

All of this was nine years ago, 2017 for the restaurant. The grocery store may have been sooner.

I wonder if that was when Samsung acquired LoopPay and was emulating mag stripe technology not NFC?

Magnetic secure transmission - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

That would make sense that a place could have taken this but not ApplePay. Anywhere that had a mag stripe reader could take that version of Samsung Pay.

I wonder if Walmart's reason to finally do this is more about taking NFC payments in general....not specifically even phone NFC payments. I've noticed that at a lot of places where people use cards, they now tap them to pay, and it's so much faster than inserting and waiting for the chip transaction. WalMart was now the lone dinosaur business where even physical card holders still had to insert and wait. So Walmart wasn't just ticking off Apple and Google Pay users, they were probably also ticking off physical card users. They had to adapt to stay modern. Kind of interesting how short the "chip" credit card era was. Just a short few years between Mag Stripe and NFC.

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

Let's see how many people will rush to their local Walmart to use Apple Pay on August 24, only to discover is not available at their location yet. People only read the big, bold headline.

It would help if the article, like the one on 9to5mac.com, listed the actual rollout schedule:

Walmart Apple Pay rollout: when it launches in your state - 9to5Mac

9to5Mac has obtained Walmart's internal Apple Pay rollout schedule. Here's the state-by-state launch plan, starting on August 24.

9to5mac.com

 

[Tagbert]

Costco will be forced to Follow Walmart now and accept Apple 🍎 Pay and Visa 💳

I’m pretty sure that i use Apple Pay at Costco. They don’t accept all cards, but you can pay by phone.

 

[TLewis]

I’m pretty sure that i use Apple Pay at Costco. They don’t accept all cards, but you can pay by phone.

Our local costcos have supported tap to pay (including Apple Pay) for at least a couple of years, probably much longer. You have to use Visa or debit, though. Costco rejects other cards like Mastercard (Apple card), but I think the gas pumps accept Mastercard (not sure, though).

 

[TLewis]

Imprinters don’t use magnetic stripes.

Is imprinting still a thing? (Or am I confused?) I don't think I've seen one of those slide-to-imprint on carbon paper credit card thingys in 10-20 years.

 

[canyonlight]

After years of holding out, Walmart today announced that it will finally begin accepting tap-to-pay options like Apple Pay in some of its Walmart and Sam's Club stores in the U.S. starting Monday, August 24. The retailer plans to roll out tap-to-pay support to all of its U.S. stores by the end of 2026 and to its gas stations by mid-2027.

"We want customers and members to have choice in how they pay, so they can check out in the way that works best for them," said Walmart, in a press release.

Other major U.S. retailers like The Home Depot, Lowe's, Kroger, and Texas-based grocery store chain H-E-B already reversed course and rolled out tap-to-pay support in recent years, leaving Walmart as one of the most notable remaining holdouts until now.

Before this, Walmart prioritized its own Walmart Pay system that involves scanning a QR code at checkout, but it has finally listened to customer feedback and decided to accept NFC-based tap-to-pay options like Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay at its U.S. stores. Tap-to-pay support extends to physical credit and debit cards.

With Apple Pay, launched in 2014, you can simply hold your iPhone or Apple Watch near the payment terminal to pay with a digital version of an eligible credit or debit card stored in the Apple Wallet app. Apple Pay has a lot of privacy protections, including hiding a customer's actual credit card number during the payment process.

Existing payment options like Walmart Pay will remain available.

Walmart has already accepted Apple Pay in its Canadian stores since 2020. It is unclear if the retailer will begin accepting tap-to-pay options in Mexico too.

Article Link: Walmart to Begin Accepting Apple Pay in U.S. Stores

Hooyah!

 

[usagora]

Why would I want to use Walmart's crappy app?

I've been using it for many years without issue - works great 🤷 Added bonus is paying with Walmart pay tracks your purchase history without having to scan a printed receipt.

 

[achappy]

Costco will be forced to Follow Walmart now and accept Apple 🍎 Pay and Visa 💳

Costco has accepted Mobile payments for a few years and they’ve been digital at the gas pumps too. Just scan your account barcode from the app and tap to pay.

So I haven’t used my physical card in probably a year if not more.

 

[chips99]

I guess almost 14 years of harvesting user data was enough in stores. Now allow you to hide your data during checkout. 😆

The one thing I will give them with Walmart Pay was that using it automatically saved your receipts to your app which made returns easier in store and in some small part made it so you didn't have to waste the paper receipt that would eventually get trashed.

I just wish they were as easy as Target with only having to bring the card you used and never having to always have the paper receipt because they could just find your transactions. Convenience again with the ability to have them store your data, but I did like the trade-off with Target.

 

[zenmacx]

That’s hilarious considering they could have provided “choice” since Apple Pay launched 12 years ago

True, they could have provided choice.

It could also be said that Apple has a golden opportunity to provide “choice” for their customers by offering a new iPhone mini.

However even though like other Apple products it would be profitable, the company’s ego only seems interested in “wildly profitable high volume products”. This position is often supported by a number of Apple loyalists who enjoy being critical of those who find the mini an excellent choice for their needs.

 

[sparkinstx]

Yes! Finally! There was a period of time where I would always rate my transactions with them with one star, because they didn’t take Apple Pay.

Walmart seems to be the place that purse and wallet thieves like the best, using stolen debit cards to buy gift cards, bypassing the PINs on the debit cards.

One time, just for kicks, I held my phone up to a card reader at Walmart and tapped for Apple Pay, just to see what happened. A green LED on the reader lit up, but that was it. But, it told me that the reader was capable of supporting it.

 

[DblHelix]

Have you been by those EV charging stations and looked at them? At least in my area, the ones they've built have no payment terminal on them whatsoever. They're 100% Walmart App only, and also require a Walmart account too (because you pay with Walmart Pay only). There's signs plastered all over them saying this.

Unless Walmart plans to retrofit these chargers with payment terminals, they will continue to not accept on-site payment of any kind, nevermind gain any benefit from tap to pay or Apple Pay or anything like that.

I still get cash back when I use the QR Code with the Walmart app

1% vs 3%

 

[Skylar.]

About damn time lmao.

 

[HazeAndHahmahneez]

Wow 11 pages?!?…

Finally. Now the 1 time a year I stumble into Walmart I can use Apple Pay haha.

That’s one time too many lol

I wonder what made them change their mind? Everyone assumed that Walmart loved cherished that data they were getting from people’s credit cards 💳 and now with Apple 🍎 Pay that will of course be irrelevant and customers card info will be Private.

Veerrrrryyyyy interesting… so actual customer $$$ is more
Important than advertising/data revenue?……

 

[awshucks]

Going from having to give your checking account number for contactless payment to paying contactless with a hidden credit card number is quite the change.

 

[Ghost31]

THANK. GOD. I was so sick of scanning that stupid barcode to pay every time.🙄

Opening the camera and scanning that code on the register is super easy. Apple Pay is better, but lets not pretend using Walmart pay was some 30 step process

 

[1rottenapple]

Finally.

Home Depot doesn’t accept it here where I’m from it’s so annoying.

 

[MrSkoTA]

They wanted to track everything you do and needed you to do it through cards and their app.

Now, they’ll track you with cameras and AI. Give it a little while. It will come out!

 

[_Spinn_]

About time! One less annoyance to deal with while shopping at Walmart.