Summary
Walmart announced it will accept Apple Pay and Google Pay at its stores beginning August 24, ending a years-long refusal to support the ubiquitous tap-to-pay technology. The retailer had long pushed its own in-house solutions (Walmart Pay and Scan-and-Go) and once joined other big retailers in the CurrentC effort to counter Apple Pay, which was shut down in 2016. Now Apple Pay is accepted at 85% of U.S. retailers, and Walmart's move is described as both giving customers choice and a de facto acknowledgment that it could no longer disadvantage its customers.
Key Points
- Walmart will accept Apple Pay and Google Pay at Walmart and Sam's Club
- Tap to Pay begins Aug 24 at select stores; all stores/clubs by end of year; fuel stations by mid-2027
- Ends a long refusal to adopt tap-to-pay in favor of Walmart Pay and Scan-and-Go
- CurrentC (with other big retailers) was an attempt to counter Apple Pay; it failed and was shut down in 2016
- Apple Pay accepted at 85% of US retailers, including most larger stores
- Walmart frames the move as "giving customers and members more choice at checkout"
- Amazon (Walmart's chief rival) already widely supports Apple Pay and Google Pay
- Decision described by TechCrunch as a "defeat" for Walmart's proprietary-wallet push
- Signals that tap-to-pay has become effectively universal across US retail
- Raises the competitive bar on any remaining retailers still pushing proprietary wallets
- Walmart's own Walmart Pay and Scan-and-Go remain options, giving merchants multiple rails