Walmart Pay is Walmart's own proprietary payment app so it doesn't have to pay any other fees to others like Apple. It also links into Walmart's IT system to track user's purchases and can use that information for internal tracking purposes.
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Walmart Stands Firm on Why It Doesn't Accept Apple Pay in the U.S.
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I agree
Unless it's the only option around, I flat out refuse to go to a Walmart for that reason (amongst others)
Why Walmart here in the US doesn't still accept Apple Pay in a day and age where others do is just stupid if you ask me
Thanks to Apple Pay being pretty much everywhere now, it seems like nowadays the only time I have to use a physical card is when I'm out to eat somewhere that isn't a chain restaurant like Chili's, Applebee's, etc
You can bag your stuff as you shop, it takes about 2 mins to checkout and if you bag check it adds an extra minute or two. If the old person at the door stops me as soon as I show the digital receipt they wave me on.
Exactly. And the reason they do accept Apple Pay and contactless card payments in Canada is that card interchange fees are much lower there than in the US.
(And in Europe, they’re cheaper again, with retailers paying around 7x less than US businesses do to process card transactions!)
When you’re the size of Wal Mart, interchange fees add up to an enormous amount of money: BILLIONS of $ per year. Can’t blame them for trying to find cheaper alternatives!
I've never viewed the senior citizen at the door as a thug. If you have security guards at your store, then people are stealing too much stuff.
Canadians were early adopters of contactless payment just as they were with chip and pin
if they didn't have contactless payment in Canada they would be the single outlier for most people
still blows my mind when I see an American have to sign a credit card slip!
If that's true, then that's probably the real reason they don't take Apple Pay - they don't want to pay to get terminals that accept contactless.
Magstripe is very much on the way out... there's already cards issued without it, and by 2033 no cards will be issued with it.
But AFAIK, there's no plans to phase out chips at all so Walmart might never be forced to install terminals that accept contactless.
Most of the little swipe/chip/keypad things are physically hanging on by a thread. Apple might require them to fix those. 
Those and shopping carts -- why wouldn't you keep things that directly connect with the shoppers in good repair?
Those and shopping carts -- why wouldn't you keep things that directly connect with the shoppers in good repair?
Wal Mart pays billions per year in interchange fees. That alone is a huge incentive for them to try and find cheaper alternatives.
Ohh... this is the first time i see it stated that the Walmart thing does not accept NFC payments at all. It's not Apple Pay specific.
Thanks for making things clear for this europe guy.
Btw, all my cards - the actual plastic - can be used for wireless payments without Apple in the way. Is nfc payment only available via Apple in the US?
Thanks for making things clear for this europe guy.
Btw, all my cards - the actual plastic - can be used for wireless payments without Apple in the way. Is nfc payment only available via Apple in the US?
Nothing to do with the cost of the terminals - that’s barely a blip to a company like Wal Mart. It’s the cost of processing each transaction, ie: interchange fees.
The terminals they use support it, they just have it turned off.
This arrogance is disgusting. Nothing is easier than wireless. Scanning QR codes is a joke. Grow up, Walmart.
Walmart still does not accept Apple Pay or other NFC payments at its more than 4,600 stores across the U.S., and it stood firm on its reasoning for that today.
A spokesperson for Walmart today informed MacRumors that its position on contactless payments has not changed since we last reached out about the matter in 2022. The big-box retailer said it remains focused on its own convenient payment technologies available in the Walmart app, including Walmart Pay and Mobile Scan & Go.
Walmart Pay allows customers to scan a QR code displayed at checkout to pay for their purchase with a payment card stored in the Walmart app. Scan & Go allows Walmart+ members to save time by scanning barcodes on items while they shop, rather than having to scan all of the items at a self-checkout register later.
The spokesperson said the following statement still stands:
Apple Pay launched more than 10 years ago, and it was accepted at more than 90 percent of U.S. retailers as of 2022, according to Apple. Some other major Apple Pay holdouts in the U.S. have reversed course and started accepting it over the past few years, including The Home Depot, Lowe's, Kroger, and Texas grocery store chain H-E-B, leaving Walmart as one of the country's only major retailers not to accept Apple Pay.
Walmart has accepted Apple Pay in Canada since 2020.
Article Link: Walmart Stands Firm on Why It Doesn't Accept Apple Pay in the U.S.
Not at all. All my cards use nfc as well. We just have dinosaur merchants that don't allow it.
NFC.
This isn't Apple Pay specific.
Card tap with the symbol, phone tap of any kind, watch tap of any kind.
This isn't Apple Pay specific.
Card tap with the symbol, phone tap of any kind, watch tap of any kind.
Wal Mart is well aware of this. They just don’t like being fleeced for billions of $ by incredibly profitable, monopolistic payment networks. But unlike every small business in the USA, Wal Mart actually has the scale and clout to try and do something about it.
Things like Walmart pay require you to store a credit card on your profile. Which is one of the least smart things you can do online.
The whole chain is a dumpster fire and I'm glad I live in a place where I have choices. I know Walmart moved into a lot of places and crushed the smaller stores in the area and now they're the only game in town. I feel bad for the people who don't like the place but don't have a choice without driving a long way to get to a different store.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
As in most things- including when Apple seems to be doing anti-customer things: it's just about the money. Change the player to shake our Apple biases. Let this be about SamGoogFlix Pay at Walmart. Walmart as the seller can:
- cut SamGoogFlix in on EVERY transaction by SamGoogFlix people and have a chunk of the revenue flow off to SamGoogFlix OR
- roll their own and keep that chunk of revenue.
This Walmart "store" has lured in the buyer, stocks what the buyer wants to buy, pays for all the infrastructure to function as a "nearby" retailer for consumers and fulfills what the customer wants to buy immediately. But SamGoogFlix should get in on many transactions for what exactly???
And be careful how you answer because this paragraph easily flips to Developer codes the app someone wants to buy, puts the app for sale on their own website (their own fulfillment infrastructure), handles the transaction on their own website and fulfills the app from their own website.
All businesses- just like Apple- wants to maximize their revenue & profit. That is undermined by readily cutting in other players to take slices of the top line. Apparently Walmart believes this maximizes their revenue & profit by doing it this way instead of cutting Apple in for a bite out of Walmart's sale. Walmart is not exactly suffering by making self-interest decisions... just as Apple is not exactly suffering by making self-interest decisions. Just because the brand name changes, our view of some situation should not flip.
And to those who swear to never shopping Walmart because- basically, they will not cut Apple in- presumably already do not shop Walmart. So there's no revenue to lose there. What about opportunity revenue to sell even Apple people who won't shop there until Walmart cuts Apple in? Apparently Walmart has considered that and chosen to go this way. Cutting Apple in would mean cutting Google in and cutting any other such player in too. Maybe they want to keep those cuts of revenue & profit for themselves... exactly how Apple fights tooth & nail to do the same for themselves at every possible opportunity.
Would "Apple Stands Firm on Why It Doesn't Accept Walmart Pay in the U.S." get the exact same kinds of reactions from us? Or would that yield a very different reaction? Rhetorical- I confidently KNOW the answer. The magic would be in asking yourself why you might feel very differently as objectively as you are able.
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