The system, which is now being tested at stores in Arkansas, home of Wal-Mart’s headquarters, will allow shoppers to pay with all major credit or debit cards through its app at the cash register. This mobile payment feature will be introduced in selected stores starting this month, with a nationwide launch expected by the first half of 2016.
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Since the launch of Apple Pay and LG pay, WalMart has unveiled a new mobile payment solution called Walmart Pay on Thursday.
“We needed a solution that offered mobile payment access to as many of our customers as possible”, Walmart Senior Vice President of Service Daniel Eckert said to USA Today. But Walmart hinted it may be able to support additional mobile wallets at a later date.
Those using Walmart Pay can visit any register, open the app and choose Walmart Pay. Around half of Walmart’s online orders over Thanksgiving weekend came from mobile devices, and customers in stores used the application at nearly double the rate they did during the same period a year ago, Walmart executives said.
Walmart doesn’t now accept any type of mobile wallet, such as Apple Pay or Samsung Pay. After a store clerk scans and bags the items being purchased, the transaction will be processed automatically and a receipt will be emailed to the customer through the Walmart app, where it can be viewed anytime. This payment processing system is quite a bit different from existing solutions, however, in that it relies on QR codes instead of the near field communication (NFC) chip embedded in many smartphones. While Apple Pay, Android Pay and Samsung Pay compete with each other, Walmart Pay isn’t going to enter their game anytime soon.
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (WAL-MART STORES, INC.:WMT) sees over 22 million people make use of its Android and iOS apps every month, the retailer reports. For now, it looks like folks hoping to use Android Pay and Apple Pay at Walmart will be out of luck.
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Walmart Pay is being rolled out at select stores in Bentonville, Ark., where the company is based. “The simplicity and easy of Walmart Pay comes not only from how it works, but also in how it’s built”.
