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

[davebarnes]

Was there a month or two ago and the older-fellow at the checkout was REALLY trying to sell me on Walmart Pay. I know he's just doing the company's bidding and while I politely declined, I knew he was drinking the kool-aid by the gallon when he said "It's the most secure payment method out there".

I stared at him for a second, blinked my eyes and said "Ok..." and then just left. I just couldn't...

Flavor-Aid. Know your Jonestown meme.

 

[nxt3]

Because Walmart is one of the only non-NFC accepting stores--there have been numerous times where I went to Walmart, got my cart full of stuff, then realized I didn't have my wallet because I'm so accustomed to not needing it. I purposefully shop there less as a result.

Glad to see they finally came to their senses.

 

[Amazing Iceman]

If you are at Sam’s and not using Scan and Go, you’re Sam’s Clubbing wrong.

They do.

Last time I used it it didn't allow ApplePay.

 

[svish]

Good to see it finally being supported. Will be very easy and convenient for all.

 

[lartola]

Now if only US restaurants would get on board and start using pin pad gadgets AT the table instead of disappearing with my CC. More and more seem to be using them, thankfully, but when I went to Canada, I was amazed how ALL the restaurants had pin pad gadgets and that was years ago! We still haven't caught up.

That was because in the rest of the world the liability shift included, for sit down restaurants, the requirement to stop taking people’s cards out of their sight for security. In the US the liability shift only required the restaurants to upgrade from magnetic stripe to chip so they all went for the cheaper option: buy a wired pinpad and hook it up to the same computer where they were previously swiping the cards, thus they continued taking people’s cards away.

 

[cdsapplefan]

They likely were cornered and had no choice. It’s the only possible explanation, given how stubborn they were all this time.

Looks like they followed Target 🎯 🛒 and started accepting Apple 🍎 Pay and having a EV ⚡️charging 🔌 station at every Walmart location.

Walmart is starting to construct EV charging stations at all the Walmarts by me 🔋🔌⚡🚜🚧👷‍♂️👷‍♀️🦺⛽️

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

I was talking about Wal-Mart.



Which, in a similar vein, is why air travel in the United States is so dismal. But that's another discussion and not this one.

We do use curbside pickup at Walmart every once in a while, but I think that also requires W+ membership (which we have) to have it as a free pickup method. Like I said, though, I prefer to pick my own groceries and so the fastest way in and out is the best way for me. I definitely do not care for Walmart's version of scan-n-go. Sam's has it perfected.

 

[lartola]

In Central America (same regional division as Mexico) Walmart started accepting contactless payments in February / March, so, I think it's just a matter of time for it to be accepted there as well.

Weirdly, Walmart stores in Mexico still don’t allow contactless payments, despite it being the same regional division as Central America where they already allow them.

 

[FlyBry]

Who stays in Walmart long enough to charge ⚡️ their car? 🚘 ⚡️💡🔋🔌

I do when traveling - snacks and bathrooms on road trips. I can go from 25% to 80% in 22 minutes. The car is usually finished before I am finished inside the store.

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

Last time I used it it didn't allow ApplePay.

Why do you need ApplePay in an app that stores payment methods?

 

[August West]

Glad to hear this! Living in Small Town USA I do a lot of my grocery shopping at the Neighborhood Walmart by necessity. Although pulling out the CC and inserting it into the reader has never been a big deal to me I much prefer Apple Pay when it is available.

 

[ChrisA]

The best thing you can do at stores that don't let you pay with a phone is to leave the cart at the checkout and walk out. Now they have to pay an employee to put all the stuff back on the shelf. I think this happens as I see employees doing this with abandoned carts.

Abandoned carts are a "thing" in retail.

 

[mannyvel]

The reason companies don't like Apple Pay is they don't get analytics. I suppose the cost of the liability shield finally exceeded the revenue from analytics.

 

[CEmajr]

I prefer Walmart Pay because when I use it in the store it records my order in Walmart's app, including all the items I purchased. That's proven very useful when I need to go back to see an item I bought or use the built-in receipt for returns.

That can be done with Apple Pay as well. The stuff I buy from the physical Target store shows up on my profile on their website too.

 

[lartola]

Why do you need ApplePay in an app that stores payment methods?

It’s more secure than storing your actual card info.

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

The best thing you can do at stores that don't let you pay with a phone is to leave the cart at the checkout and walk out. Now they have to pay an employee to put all the stuff back on the shelf. I think this happens as I see employees doing this with abandoned carts.

Abandoned carts are a "thing" in retail.

I wonder if they're abandoned carts or just carts that stores use to put customer returns and items from the register that customers changed their mind on? I mean, if I just spent 30 minutes shopping (and for some reason am unaware they don't accept payments by phone), my time and gas to get there is worth something and taking a CC out of my pocket and tapping the pin pad isn't that much of an inconvenience.

 

[ArtOfWarfare]

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.

Mastercard branded cards will no longer be required to be issued with magnetic stripes in the US starting in 2027, and won't be allowed to be issued with them starting in 2029.

Visa hasn't committed to any particular phaseout plan but they've said they're thinking about it.

So I'm guessing this is related - Walmart is switching from Swipe or Chip to Tap or Chip as Swipe is going to start going away as an option for some shoppers in the next 4 months.

 

[kwjohns]

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.

They've determined that they can scan your face with the cameras at their checkouts to identify and track your purchases or ping your phone for discoverability. They're not going to give up on the data that tracking credit cards has allowed them without an alternative option.

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

Mastercard branded cards will no longer be required to be issued with magnetic stripes in the US starting in 2027, and won't be allowed to be issued with them starting in 2029.

Visa hasn't committed to any particular phaseout plan but they've said they're thinking about it.

Thank God! Maybe that will force the dumpy 7-11 gas station down the road to FINALLY update their pumps with modern payment systems...currently they only do swipe and I'm sure my CC has been compromised at least once because of them.

 

[Timpetus]

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.

They finally figured out that by not accepting Apple Pay they were missing out on both the information and the sales from the growing number of customers who are uninterested in shopping at stores that don't accept it.

 

[jz0309]

Society is becoming cashless. I know many people are against it, but many aren't. I rarely use cash and pay with methods tied to my checking account, and mostly using Apple Pay via my Apple Watch.

Agree, I might get cash at the ATM maybe twice a year ...
A few weeks ago we went to Big Bear and the restaurant we picked only accepted cash, which we did t have enough in hand to pay for. They had an ATM machine in their lobby so we got $100 but of course there was a total of $5 in fees involved...
And then in other places you find local small places that use an iPhone to accept cashless payments ...
Cash is on the way out...

 

[The_Martini_Cat]

I was out at Walmart in North Dakota last night, and had to pick up some medical supplies. I went to check out and it was like "like really? You don't take Apple Pay?" 🍸🙀

 

[mk313]

Whether you shop at Walmart or not, this is great news for Apple Pay & NFC payments in general.

 

[apparatchik]

Weirdly, Walmart stores in Mexico still don’t allow contactless payments, despite it being the same regional division as Central America where they already allow them.

Yep, I was in El Salvador back in February and saw them slowly rolling it out, I thought the same was happening elsewhere in the Mexico & Central America division but seems they're still holding out, at least until now.

 

[RowellE]

About time. Too bad my local Walmart is super duper ghetto now, so if I need anything from Walmart, I just do curbside pickup.