Walmart Stands Firm on Why It Doesn't Accept Apple Pay in the U.S.

[173080]

At Walmart because they refuse Apple Pay, out of all my cards I choose to pay with an international Amex so they have to eat the highest transaction fees.

 

[subjonas]

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.

The entire plan for them is to get you to ACH / DEBIT card to them so that they can pay 0 fees. They want you the customer to take on all fraud risks and thus have no fee to the vendor.

Walmart: Give us access to your bank account and then you can fail to load the barcode in the Walmart app because the building is a farady cage. That's so much easier than tap to pay!

I don’t understand. Walmart Pay doesn’t let you pay with credit card?

 

[Michael Scrip]

At Sam's Club, there is no bagging regardless of how you purchase, and they always check your receipt at the exit door.

Yes... I edited my comment to mention Sam's. I use Scan & Go at Sam's often.

I've never used Scan & Go at Walmart because I am not a Walmart+ subscriber, but I believe they have dedicated "Scan & Go" stations at the front where you can bag items if desired. I'm not sure how they validate successful payment for Scan & Go customers, as Walmart typically does not check receipts at the exit door.

Thanks! I'm not a Walmart+ subscriber either. And I've never noticed the Scan & Go stations. But I'll keep an eye out next time I go to Walmart. (which isn't often)

 

[tridley68]

I have never been in a Walmart and will never step foot in one just don't like them period but before you bash me I know many folks love the place.

 

[ryanmp]

Patiently waiting for the EU to go after Walmart for this unspeakable act of anticompetitive behavior

 

[jgreg728]

In that case I and many others will stand firm not stepping foot in those stores lol. Simple as that.

 

[apparatchik]

If that was the case they could allow contactless payment but only accept debit and not credit.

Visa and MasterCard issued debit cards also collect a fee to them on every transaction, and have some or most of the same anti-fraud protections that credit cards have, depending on the bank, etc.

 

[gbc204]

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.

Does Walmart Pay at least give you a 5% discount like the Target card does? That's the only reason I don't use Apple Pay at Target. Why in the world would I use a proprietary Walmart app for no added incentive?

 

[CoMoMacUser]

“Scan&Go”…until you get to the door, then they stop to verify. What’s the point?

Because people can still shoplift by simply not scanning every item. Most Sam's Clubs now have arches by the exits with cameras that check the cart's contents to verify if it matches what was scanned. At mine about three quarters of people can go right out the door. The remainder are checked manually because they purchased alcohol or because the AI couldn't ID all of the items in their cart.

 

[JUMA55]

It’s always fascinating to me how companies will actively make it harder for me to give them money. You’d think they’d try to make the checkout process as simple as possible to reduce any chance of the customer changing their mind. But nope

Like Macy's or one of those big joints. You can wear out a pair of shoes trying to find someone to check you out.

 

[CoMoMacUser]

I know of no other establishment that puts a thug at the door to check its customers to make sure they didn't sneak something past cashier or scanner.

Costco and Sam's Club do, too.

 

[Baseiseough]

There should be a simpler way to pay, like say, paper notes on which there would be a number representing the amount of money they represent. These notes would be a universal payment method since it would be accepted by every merchants. No transaction fees, no middlemen, no silly bonus all while respecting consumers private life and be available during a power outage. Wonder when they'll think about it. Maybe I should patent my idea. 🤔

 

[nathansz]

Visa and MasterCard issued debit cards also collect a fee to them on every transaction, and have some or most of the same anti-fraud protections that credit cards have, depending on the bank, etc.

they could also exclude those cards

or all debit cards in the us visa or mastercard?

here they are issued by the bank/credit union

 

[Momof2.1107]

I am a current Walmart+ member and use the Scan and Go whenever I physically visit Walmart. 90% of the time I have my groceries and other purchases delivered to my home within the 2 hour time frame I choose. I love the Scan and Go feature, as I scan and bag my groceries as I go. I use the dedicated Scan and Go checkout or whichever checkout is available, select the only card I have saved to my account, my PayPal debit card because I receive 5% cash back for every grocery purchase. Scanning takes and paying takes me less than 30 seconds and I’m walking out the door to my car. I rather pay that way, as I hate interacting with cashiers and prefer to bag my groceries my way.

 

[rhett7660]

I guess some of us are not average. I use Apple Pay everywhere I can

You and me both. I went from one or two transactions a month... to a heck of a lot more! Now that Home Depot and Lowes accept, all the stores I go to are set!!!

 

[magicschoolbus]

just order off amazon like the rest of the world.

 

[DocMultimedia]

Guess that explains why I don't shop there. I can't actually think of a single place where I don't use my Watch to pay, and stopped carrying cards at least a year ago.

 

[seek3r]

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.

Nope, they allow all normal credit cards, it’s not like costco, so nothing changes there one way or another, what they want is 2 things

1) shopping data and profiling
2) the knowledge that people like to use the same patterns, so if you buy in and put their app on your phone to pay you’re also likely to shop there more often.

BTW it’s particularly greedy on reason 1 because they can get number 2 pretty easily, and a lot of 1 with it, without blocking out other payment systems, let alone the modern NFC standard entirely. For example Starbucks is another large chain that likes both of those as well and is successful with it, their app is great and useful, and yet they do fine also accepting Apple Pay

 

[harmonthe3rd]

I applied for a Walmart credit card, added it to the Walmart app, and only use it for Walmart. Three clicks and a scan is still convenient for me. What I use the most is delivery. Produce and meat are the only things I physically go and buy and I don't buy them at Walmart.

 

[jblank]

Does Walmart Pay at least give you a 5% discount like the Target card does? That's the only reason I don't use Apple Pay at Target. Why in the world would I use a proprietary Walmart app for no added incentive?

Hell no! No discount at all.

I don't hate Walmart like some people but there is literally ZERO reason to use their pay app and it's stupid for them to not accept Apple Pay or Google Pay.

 

[Momof2.1107]

I applied for a Walmart credit card, added it to the Walmart app, and only use it for Walmart. Three clicks and a scan is still convenient for me. What I use the most is delivery. Produce and meat are the only things I physically go and buy and I don't buy them at Walmart.

I too have the Walmart credit card as well, but use my PayPal debit card, since I get 5% cash back with every grocery purchase, and transfer my cash back to my PayPal high yield savings account.

 

[elvisimprsntr]

Walmart and Home Depot need to move into the 21st century.

 

[harmonthe3rd]

I too have the Walmart credit card as well, but use my PayPal debit card, since I get 5% cash back with every grocery purchase, and transfer my cash back to my PayPal high yield savings account.

I didn't think about that. I will have to look into it. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[jayducharme]

It's weird that they accept ApplePay in Canada but not in the US. Yet one more reason to move north! I avoid shopping at Walmart. There are plenty of alternatives where I can pay with my phone.

 

[Mousse]

I tend to avoid Walmart already because it's always a circus. Parking is a circus. Getting into the store is a circus because it's so crowded. Checkout is a circus.

The People of Walmart is the main draw of going to Walmart.😁