Walmart Still Doesn't Accept Apple Pay in U.S. Despite Many Customer Requests

[erasr]

Just reading this. Incredible.

I thought the U.S led the way with stuff like this?

Over here in the U.K, every single place I go - even the tiny little indie coffee shops in my village - accept Apple Pay.

I haven’t had a card on me when I leave the house in 3 years now.

 

[SalisburySam]

Just reading this. Incredible.

I thought the U.S led the way with stuff like this?

Over here in the U.K, every single place I go - even the tiny little indie coffee shops in my village - accept Apple Pay.

I haven’t had a card on me when I leave the house in 3 years now.

Be sure to bring with you your card on your next trip to the colonies.

 

[SnowCrocodile]

Replying to you and the poster you quoted.

I think people “get” that a huge amount of people have no choice but to shop there these days. The problem I have, and others as well is that Wal-Mart got where they are by eviscerating Main Street USA, and the manufacturing sector along with it. They exploit their employees and the heirs are horrible excuses for human beings who don’t deserve the massive and disgusting wealth they’ve been handed. Their employees survive on food stamps while the Waltons are hanging out on half a billion dollar yachts.

So yea, it’s unfortunate that many have no choice but to shop there, but for those that don’t, is it really worth it to save a few bucks? Your money is going towards horrible people and exploiting millions around the world. So yea, lots of justifiable criticism directed at Wal-Mart.

So you're saying that Meijer, Kroger, Target, Amazon owned Whole Foods are shining beacons of integrity compared to Walmart ? Somehow I doubt that. Aldi is supposedly a "green" store but they aren't really suited for large family shopping.

By the way, Walmart isn't a huge presence around here like it is in some other places. They are just one of the chains. We kind of stumbled into a Walmart by accident when our local Kroger was shut down and replaced by a mega-store two miles away.

I live in a suburb of Metro Detroit, and there's basically two kinds of stores that you could call "Main Street" here:

a) Ethnic grocery stores (around here, Arab-owned ones are most common). The prices are decent, the produce is good, but the choices are limited. We shop there all the time, but there's really only a handful of goods that we can get there - apples, salad ingredients, feta cheese, some meats (not a huge selection, and rather specialized).

b) High-end boutique independent stores that are squarely aimed at affluent buyers. With interior design, prices, and selection to reflect that.

There isn't any regular, "all-American" mom-and-pop stores left anymore that I know of, outside of specialty ones. The last local chain that could be classified like that, even though it would be a stretch, closed over a decade ago because the old owner died and his children weren't interested in running the business. They sold it to Kroger.

We do shop at a market all the time - Detroit is one of the few cities left that still has a huge, old-fashioned farmers market with butcher shops and produce stalls. But it's a good 30+ min drive downtown, going there is an experience all by itself and takes half a day. It's a good place to stock up on specialized cuts of meat, or get some locally grown greens, but it's just not practical to do weekly shopping for a large busy family unless you live nearby.

So, why should I prioritize other huge chains over Walmart ?

 

[SnowCrocodile]

Just reading this. Incredible.

I thought the U.S led the way with stuff like this?

Over here in the U.K, every single place I go - even the tiny little indie coffee shops in my village - accept Apple Pay.

I haven’t had a card on me when I leave the house in 3 years now.

The US is very... quaint in some ways. Our banking system is stuck in the 90s.

 

[MisterSavage]

Just reading this. Incredible.

I thought the U.S led the way with stuff like this?

Over here in the U.K, every single place I go - even the tiny little indie coffee shops in my village - accept Apple Pay.

I haven’t had a card on me when I leave the house in 3 years now.

Oh good heavens no. I remember years ago being so delighted at how many places I could use Apple Pay in Europe vs back home in the USA.

 

[Sweet_Caroline]

Just reading this. Incredible.

I thought the U.S led the way with stuff like this?

Over here in the U.K, every single place I go - even the tiny little indie coffee shops in my village - accept Apple Pay.

I haven’t had a card on me when I leave the house in 3 years now.

I use Apple Pay daily and haven’t been to a store that doesn’t accepted it. We went on vacation last year and stopped at some cute little towns and even used it there too.… I’m in the US also.

 

[SnowCrocodile]

Oh good heavens no. I remember years ago being so delighted at how many places I could use Apple Pay in Europe vs back home in the USA.

There’s no pressure to use contactless. Neither from the government, nor to the large extent from the customers. I still see people inserting their chip into card readers even when there’s contactless payment option, all the time. Heck, I even see people writing checks at the register.

 

[MacDaddyPanda]

I try not to shop their physically anyway. Every time I enter one I feel dirty. And come out feeling dirty. I have a visceral reaction to having to step foot into one. The only thing I buy there is motor oil because I change my own oil. And they sell it at a good price. And I order it online and have it delivered or shipped.

 

[webkit]

Just reading this. Incredible.

I thought the U.S led the way with stuff like this?

Over here in the U.K, every single place I go - even the tiny little indie coffee shops in my village - accept Apple Pay.

I haven’t had a card on me when I leave the house in 3 years now.

I don’t know if the U.S. is leading the way or not but Walmart is only one company and while it's a major player among national chains, it's relatively small when compared against all retailers (national chains, regional chains, local mom and pop stores).

 

[MisterSavage]

There’s no pressure to use contactless. Neither from the government, nor to the large extent from the customers. I still see people inserting their chip into card readers even when there’s contactless payment option, all the time. Heck, I even see people writing checks at the register.

Oh 100%. I still get people that look at me like I'm a wizard when I pay with something with my Apple Watch. A couple of years ago I get it but in 2023?

 

[MacDaddyPanda]

Oh 100%. I still get people that look at me like I'm a wizard when I pay with something with my Apple Watch. A couple of years ago I get it but in 2023?

I remember just using Apple Pay with just my phone. In a city with a lot of tech Giants. And an employee was blown away with contactless payment. I was confused, lol. Like huh? Granted this was only a 3-4 yrs ago. But it was still pretty ubiquitous by that point. So hence my confusion by the lack of exposure, especially from a retail clerk.

 

[MisterSavage]

I remember just using Apple Pay with just my phone. In a city with a lot of tech Giants. And an employee was blown away with contactless payment. I was confused, lol. Like huh? Granted this was only a 3-4 yrs ago. But it was still pretty ubiquitous by that point. So hence my confusion by the lack of exposure, especially from a retail clerk.

My favorite is "We don't take Apple Pay." "Can I just try?" And then it works.

 

[lartola]

Contactless payment including tap to pay by card is increasing as the years go in the United States. As garyjones027 mentioned above, if Walmart stores in the United States decide to not offer tap to pay by card and other contactless payments, in a few years, there will be negative news coverage for Walmart not to offer tap to pay by card. The news coverage will say that tap to pay by card is very popular among American people and it is accepted by major businesses and major retailers in the United States. The news coverage will also show that Walmart stores in Canada already have tap to pay by card since 2020. It will criticize Walmart stores in the United States for not to allow other popular payment methods but only Walmart Pay on the mobile phone and insert the credit card into the credit card machine which takes time. Then, this will create criticisms on social media. I expect this type of news coverage and social media criticisms to happen in 4 to 5 years.

Not just in Canada, even in developing countries such as Chile or Costa Rica Walmart stores already accept nfc contactless payments.

 

[lartola]

I don’t know if the U.S. is leading the way or not but Walmart is only one company and while it's a major player among national chains, it's relatively small when compared against all retailers (national chains, regional chains, local mom and pop stores).

No it’s not. There are other businesses still not allowing contactless at their locations. HEB, Loews and Home Depot still don’t, just to name a few stores. Plus sit down restaurants, most of which are stuck in 1995 still taking away people’s cards to process payments (this includes most of those that already “upgraded” to chip by stupidly buying a wired pinpad and hooking it up to their computer).

 

[SnowCrocodile]

I try not to shop their physically anyway. Every time I enter one I feel dirty. And come out feeling dirty. I have a visceral reaction to having to step foot into one. The only thing I buy there is motor oil because I change my own oil. And they sell it at a good price. And I order it online and have it delivered or shipped.

Lol that’s a bit extreme. The local Walmart Superstore that we shop at is every bit as clean as any other chain.

 

[MacDaddyPanda]

Lol that’s a bit extreme. The local Walmart Superstore that we shop at is every bit as clean as any other chain.

Im sure there are clean stores. But my store has consistently been pretty dirty to me. When compared to Target for example.

 

[anson42]

My favorite is "We don't take Apple Pay." "Can I just try?" And then it works.

Don't ask if they take "Apple Pay", ask instead if they can accept "contactless" or "touchless" or "tap to pay". Any location that can accept that with a credit card – as opposed to only a cash card – should also accept Apple Pay as it's just NFC payment.

I was just in Japan and even in Tokyo most places I went to did support NFC but some retailers only accepted it for cash cards like Suica/Pasmo so I had to resort to inserting my credit card. And many places accepted only cash, both shops and restaurants. The further I went into rural areas the more cash I needed to carry but having to carry cash in Tokyo was definitely a bit of a surprise as I don't carry cash anywhere I go in the US, CA or EU.

 

[SnowCrocodile]

Don't ask if they take "Apple Pay", ask instead if they can accept "contactless" or "touchless" or "tap to pay". Any location that can accept that with a credit card – as opposed to only a cash card – should also accept Apple Pay as it's just NFC payment.

I was just in Japan and even in Tokyo most places I went to did support NFC but some retailers only accepted it for cash cards like Suica/Pasmo so I had to resort to inserting my credit card. And many places accepted only cash, both shops and restaurants. The further I went into rural areas the more cash I needed to carry but having to carry cash in Tokyo was definitely a bit of a surprise as I don't carry cash anywhere I go in the US, CA or EU.

We went to a Mexican restaurant a few weeks ago which had a contactless payment terminal with a huge sign above it that said "we do not accept Apple Pay".

I can only assume that AP has higher processing fees ?

 

[redbeard331]

So you're saying that Meijer, Kroger, Target, Amazon owned Whole Foods are shining beacons of integrity compared to Walmart ? Somehow I doubt that. Aldi is supposedly a "green" store but they aren't really suited for large family shopping.

The topic is Wal Mart, and they led the way in this race to the bottom, Kroger and Amazon are terrible companies too, but hey I don’t have the time to rant against every bad corporation on Earth 😳

I don’t know anything about Meijer, I’ve only been in one a few times when I was visiting Michigan.

Wal-Mart has been particularly horrible in every way imaginable over the decades. If there’s one store to avoid, that would be it. Here in California there’s absolutely no need for me to ever step foot in one. I’ve purchased one item from Wal-Mart in my lifetime, and that was a work related item that I couldn’t find anywhere else for some reason. Instead of giving the evil Walton family more money we can choose not to shop there and encourage our government to crack down on criminal organizations such as those.

By the way, Walmart isn't a huge presence around here like it is in some other places. They are just one of the chains. We kind of stumbled into a Walmart by accident when our local Kroger was shut down and replaced by a mega-store two miles away.


I live in a suburb of Metro Detroit, and there's basically two kinds of stores that you could call "Main Street" here:

a) Ethnic grocery stores (around here, Arab-owned ones are most common). The prices are decent, the produce is good, but the choices are limited. We shop there all the time, but there's really only a handful of goods that we can get there - apples, salad ingredients, feta cheese, some meats (not a huge selection, and rather specialized).

b) High-end boutique independent stores that are squarely aimed at affluent buyers. With interior design, prices, and selection to reflect that.

There isn't any regular, "all-American" mom-and-pop stores left anymore that I know of, outside of specialty ones. The last local chain that could be classified like that, even though it would be a stretch, closed over a decade ago because the old owner died and his children weren't interested in running the business. They sold it to Kroger.

We do shop at a market all the time - Detroit is one of the few cities left that still has a huge, old-fashioned farmers market with butcher shops and produce stalls. But it's a good 30+ min drive downtown, going there is an experience all by itself and takes half a day. It's a good place to stock up on specialized cuts of meat, or get some locally grown greens, but it's just not practical to do weekly shopping for a large busy family unless you live nearby.

So, why should I prioritize other huge chains over Walmart ?

Pick and choose your battles brother, we start by dismantling the worst, then we can deal with breaking up Amazon and Kroger. Wal-Mart should never have been allowed to get as big as they are, it’s come at great cost to this country, and the only people that have benefitted from it is the evil Walton family and the crooked politicians they bribe every year.

 

[garyjones027]

Don't ask if they take "Apple Pay", ask instead if they can accept "contactless" or "touchless" or "tap to pay". Any location that can accept that with a credit card – as opposed to only a cash card – should also accept Apple Pay as it's just NFC payment.

I was just in Japan and even in Tokyo most places I went to did support NFC but some retailers only accepted it for cash cards like Suica/Pasmo so I had to resort to inserting my credit card. And many places accepted only cash, both shops and restaurants. The further I went into rural areas the more cash I needed to carry but having to carry cash in Tokyo was definitely a bit of a surprise as I don't carry cash anywhere I go in the US, CA or EU.

Japan is a country that has a cash society.

 

[anson42]

We went to a Mexican restaurant a few weeks ago which had a contactless payment terminal with a huge sign above it that said "we do not accept Apple Pay".

I can only assume that AP has higher processing fees ?

That will depend on the payment processor. It is possible the restaurant's terminal was using a processor that currently does not support Apple Pay or has an old terminal that doesn't. My guess is the latter. That's the reason I said "should" accept Apple Pay and not "will" As far as I know, Apple Pay itself has no charge for merchants but the associated credit card company will have a charge, but that should be lower than the charge for a regular card swipe thanks to the enhanced security of Apple Pay's multi-factor authentication.

 

[SnowCrocodile]

The topic is Wal Mart, and they led the way in this race to the bottom, Kroger and Amazon are terrible companies too, but hey I don’t have the time to rant against every bad corporation on Earth 😳

I don’t know anything about Meijer, I’ve only been in one a few times when I was visiting Michigan.

Wal-Mart has been particularly horrible in every way imaginable over the decades. If there’s one store to avoid, that would be it. Here in California there’s absolutely no need for me to ever step foot in one. I’ve purchased one item from Wal-Mart in my lifetime, and that was a work related item that I couldn’t find anywhere else for some reason. Instead of giving the evil Walton family more money we can choose not to shop there and encourage our government to crack down on criminal organizations such as those.



Pick and choose your battles brother, we start by dismantling the worst, then we can deal with breaking up Amazon and Kroger. Wal-Mart should never have been allowed to get as big as they are, it’s come at great cost to this country, and the only people that have benefitted from it is the evil Walton family and the crooked politicians they bribe every year.

Sorry bud, but this doesn't sound like an ethics-based approach, more like a pet peeve.

Just as you don't have the time to rant about every bad corporation on Earth, I don't have the money to waste on paying more for the same groceries without a clear cause. I have a family of five, that's a lot of groceries.

 

[lartola]

We went to a Mexican restaurant a few weeks ago which had a contactless payment terminal with a huge sign above it that said "we do not accept Apple Pay".

I can only assume that AP has higher processing fees ?

No it doesn’t. They only pay a fee for taking visa, mc, etc. regardless of how the payment was submitted. Maybe they disabled the contactless feature on the device.

 

[lartola]

That will depend on the payment processor. It is possible the restaurant's terminal was using a processor that currently does not support Apple Pay or has an old terminal that doesn't. My guess is the latter. That's the reason I said "should" accept Apple Pay and not "will" As far as I know, Apple Pay itself has no charge for merchants but the associated credit card company will have a charge, but that should be lower than the charge for a regular card swipe thanks to the enhanced security of Apple Pay's multi-factor authentication.

No, it’s lower just for using contactless. No difference whether it’s apple pay or a contactless card as long as it’s using nfc.

 

[lartola]

Sorry bud, but this doesn't sound like an ethics-based approach, more like a pet peeve.

Just as you don't have the time to rant about every bad corporation on Earth, I don't have the money to waste on paying more for the same groceries without a clear cause. I have a family of five, that's a lot of groceries.

And Walmart knows it. That’s why they don’t care to not accept contactless and nothing in the world will ever make them budge except, maybe, a card network mandate.