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And this is why you have like Elon Musk and other billionaires running the US government now.
Well, they can only make a fool of themselves, we wait and see. And Walmart will also get sensible decision-makers at some point, unfortunately you often have to be very patient.
 
I'm not Murican so can't just go to Walmart and check, but do they accept tap payments with a physical credit card? Or have to insert/swipe?
 
Not accepting the most popular contactless payments during covid and beyond is the most anti consumer stance you can take. Its disgusting...
 
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Yeah but I’m not gonna adopt Walmart pay because you’re not implementing Apple Pay. You’re just make things a little less convenient for me. And it might also cause an infrequent “guess I’m leaving everything at the register because I forgot my wallet but I have my watch on” situation.
 
I remember speaking with Walmart executives during a renovation at their flagship club in Bentonville. They mentioned they didn’t foresee the chain ever accepting Apple Pay. As we talked, another customer overheard us and joked, “Is it so Walmart can track us?” The Walmart home office employee chuckled and replied, “Something like that.”

I explained to the customer that without Walmart Pay, the company wouldn’t be able to track our spending with Apple Pay, which could affect the revenue they make from selling our data. The home office associate stood silently only clearing his throat unable to refute what I had said.

When their terminals were upgraded they initially took NFC but they made sure to disable them before anyone could use Apple Pay with them. I’m not sure if Samsung Pay still works, it was pretty common to see people paying with that method with those terminals.
 
They don't want to pay credit card fees if they can help it. Their entire statement avoids that simple fact.

Their Scan & Go tech worked to pay by card at Sam's Club last time I used it. If they turned that off they did so on purpose. They could easily integrate it with Apple Pay but choose not to.

There's no way to pay with a credit card at Walmart?
 
I'm not Murican so can't just go to Walmart and check, but do they accept tap payments with a physical credit card? Or have to insert/swipe?

No contactless payments at all. Not sure if using NFC costs more in transaction fees, but they're paying some kind of fees already using chip or mag stripe anyway. Just a dumb hill to die on when everyone else (mostly) takes NFC/Apple Pay.
 
I use WalmartPay begrudgingly. I would prefer to use Apple Pay, but w/e. It is annoying that Walmart lies about why NFC payments aren’t allowed though.

Just be honest that you want to track your customers.

But they take credit cards via the chip. Not sure how that's any more or less trackable than using NFC/Apple Pay? Obviously using their own app gives them the most information about you, but don't see how NFC/Apple Pay insulates me from being tracked any more than using the chip.
 
We all pay enough taxes, paying your share only for the government to irresponsibly spend it like it’s going out of fashion without any fiscal restrain is the bigger problem. Governments have lost its requirement for accountability now you know the reason why some business’ only accept cash.
Oh you don't need to convince me, I'm a big fan of cash, the less the Government knows the better.
 
But they take credit cards via the chip. Not sure how that's any more or less trackable than using NFC/Apple Pay? Obviously using their own app gives them the most information about you, but don't see how NFC/Apple Pay insulates me from being tracked any more than using the chip.
There is insulation because you’re giving a dynamic cryptograph based on your device account number to the terminal as a proxy for your primary account number. It changes and they can’t collect purchase history across visits.
 
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a company that keeps its customer solely by price does these types of things. I'd rather pay double and drive 4 times further than shop at Walmart

Ok? Good for you, I guess?

Personally, I always shop based on who offers me the overall lowest prices for my shopping trip. Every study or article I've seen online indicates for grocery shopping, Aldi is about the cheapest. But Aldi lacks the selection of Walmart, who is consistently ranked number 2 lowest cost. And Aldi has all the annoyances like shopping carts requiring a quarter inserted in a slot to release them to use them.

So while I may not be a big fan of the chain, I do the lion's share of my grocery shopping at Walmart, as well as getting my household goods there.

I can't afford to just "pay double" the already high prices for things, much less driving 4x further and wasting that much extra time on each trip. I refuse to sign up for Walmart's own payment systems or subscription plan to "Plus" or any of that nonsense, but I can handle the need to pull out a physical credit card and stick in in a slot or hold it up to a reader for a second.
 
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I insert my card, press NO to cash back, hit the red button when asked for my PIN, click Authorize Signature, and I’m done. In MY mind, I cost them more in fees than a PIN based debit. But I don’t know for sure.
 
One goes to Walmart in New York State....

1) You get to the checkout area and there's no cashiers working.
2) Ring out your own groceries and other various items.
3) Sorry, we don't offer bags anymore, I guess you have to put everything in the cart individually if you forgot yours.
4) Wanna pay with Apple Pay? Sorry, no can't do. Insert the chip or use cash.
5) On the way out, make sure you show the guy near the door your receipt.
6) Now you can put each individual item in your vehicle and go home.


I shop there maybe once a year to pickup an item or two quickly. Otherwise, Walmart should be embarrassed by the experience.
 
Wal Mart pays billions per year in interchange fees. That alone is a huge incentive for them to try and find cheaper alternatives.
Oh ok. No one else pays interchange fees? You know it and I know it. It's about tracking people. They have cameras all over their stores. Not just in the ceiling looking for shop lifters. They look at how customers interact with products. They monitor what you look it. They watch what you buy. They analyze your behavior in the door. And they track your purchases by credit card number.
 
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Walmart also cannot track customer purchases as easily as they can with Walmart Pay.

Walmart is large enough of a company that they can easily push back against customer requests to be able to use Apple Pay.
Yeah, I’ve heard it described that a purchase via Apple Card provides as much information as cash, which is “what was purchased”. There is no “who” information attached.
 
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There's no way to pay with a credit card at Walmart?
Several ways:

At the register terminal, insert or swipe your card.

Save your card info in the Walmart app. At the register terminal, scan the QR code to have the app pay with that card.

Get a Walmart+ subscription. Then use the app to scan each item as you shop and pay using the saved card to bypass the register.
 
Walmart Pay is slow, inconvenient, and sucks. I mean, you have to find and launch the app, find the feature and activate it, and then hold the phone up to scan the QR code. It's really quite bad.
 
Interesting that Apple gets forced to accept outside payment methods or face antitrust charges, but Walmart does not. Where is the customer choice with this one?
 
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I'm not Murican so can't just go to Walmart and check, but do they accept tap payments with a physical credit card? Or have to insert/swipe?

they do not accept contactless payments ie: tap of NFC

that's what this story is actually about

MacRumors creates a lot of confusion around this by substituting "contactless payment" or "NFC" with "Apple Pay" in the headlines and throughout the articles
 
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No surprise that Walmart won't use NFC payment, including Apple Pay, because it promotes its own proprietary system, Walmart Pay. That also allows it to track the users closely with their transactions (i.e. harvest the data).

People need to realize that many companies, not just Walmart, do its best to harvest customer data however it can. Using a proprietary payment system is one way of doing it.
In America, does anyone use Target's Redcard? Or Lowes credit card? Both offer a 5% discount to use their respective cards and most likely harvest customer data from their purchases.

Businesses have to pay for the initial cost for the NFC readers and possibly any subsequent fees similar to credit card charges for those NFC charges. Many companies use it because it's a matter of convenience for the customers who'll spend money on its products/services.
 
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