Walmart and Sam's Club began accepting contactless payments on Monday in selected stores across the United States, marking a historic shift for the world's largest retail chain, which had refused to adopt this technology for over a decade.
Thus announced the company in its statement last Friday.
“We wanted our customers and partners to have options when it comes to payment, so they can choose the method that works best for them,” Walmart stated in its announcement.
What is contactless payment and how does it work at Walmart?
The new system, known as Tap to Pay, allows customers to complete their purchases by bringing their phone, smartwatch, or a compatible card close to the payment terminal, without needing to open any app or scan codes.
Accepted methods include Apple Pay, Google Pay, and other compatible digital wallets, as well as credit and debit cards with NFC technology.
In addition, customers will be able to add their Walmart, Sam's Club, and OnePay cards to wallets like Google Wallet or Apple Wallet for contactless payments.
The company did not disclose the list of stores or cities where the service will be available first, according to Axios citing a Walmart spokesperson.
A change that customers have been waiting for years
The decision brings to an end a resistance that lasted more than a decade.
Walmart co-founded the Merchant Customer Exchange consortium in 2012, which is responsible for the development of CurrentC, a proprietary system based on QR codes designed to compete with Apple Pay and avoid fees from card networks.
That system never gained traction among consumers and was deactivated in 2016.
After that failure, Walmart promoted its own system, Walmart Pay, also based on QR codes scanned from the mobile app.
This scheme generated frequent complaints among its buyers, as Apple Pay was already available at more than 85% of retailers in the United States, according to data from Apple quoted by CBS News.
When will it arrive in all the stores?
The expansion plan includes two phases. The first phase aims for the service to be available in all Walmart and Sam's Club stores across the country before the end of 2026.
The second one extends the technology to the fuel stations of both chains by mid-2027.
The Tap to Pay does not replace existing payment methods; rather, it complements them.
Customers will still be able to pay in cash, with a physical card, or through Walmart Pay.
At Sam's Club, the Scan & Go system —which allows customers to scan products while shopping and pay through the app without going through the checkout— will also remain available.
“It all comes down to offering customers and partners more options and making everyday purchases a little easier, from how they manage their money to how they pay at checkout,” the company stated.
Walmart, at a time of changes
The introduction of contactless payment comes at a time of significant changes for the chain.
Walmart recently announced that it would use part of the tariff refunds received to lower prices in its stores.
Additionally, it started making drone deliveries in Florida as part of its commitment to modernizing the shopping experience.
With the adoption of Tap to Pay, Walmart bridges a technological gap that had negatively set it apart from the rest of the U.S. retail sector, which its own customers had pointed out as a deficiency for years.
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