A brief check on Twitter indicates that Walmart is approached with countless demands to take Apple Pay on a daily basis; nevertheless, the big-box retailer, Walmart still does not accept Apple Pay payments at any of its roughly 4,700 locations across the United States.
Does Walmart Accept Apple Pay?
No.
Apple Pay is not a mode of payment that is currently accepted by Walmart either in-store or over their website. Though Walmart accepts Apple Pay in some of its stores in Canada, Walmart doesn’t take Apple Pay payments in the United States.
Will Walmart Start Accepting Apple Pay in the Future?
It’s quite unlikely to happen.
The reason for this is that allowing customers to use Apple Pay would have a negative impact on the revenue statement for Walmart, particularly the bottom line.
Why Doesn’t Walmart Have Apple Pay?
According to an article published in Business Insider, the contractual duty that Walmart has to Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX) is the primary reason why the retailer would never accept Apple Pay (MCX).
Walmart is able to avoid the 2% credit card fee that they would be subjected to if they started accepting Apple Pay since they make use of MCX’s mobile payment system, which is facilitated by Walmart Pay.
Therefore, appealing to customers is not Walmart’s primary concern; rather, the company is more concerned about the financial consequences. There should be no surprise in that regard.
There is another technical reason as well that was provided by the officials of Walmart and that makes sense why Walmart doesn’t accept Apple Pay.
“We do not accept NFC and instead have implemented convenient solutions, such as Walmart Pay, that provide our customers with easy, touchless payments on any smartphone.”
They further said that: We have also made investments in cutting-edge technology that extend beyond payment processing, such as Scan & Go, which enables members of Sam’s Club and Walmart+ to avoid going through the checkout process altogether.
According to a statement that was provided by a spokesperson for Walmart to MacRumors this week, Walmart Pay is an example of one of the convenient solutions that Walmart has implemented.
Walmart Pay vs Apple Pay
Walmart Pay, which can be accessed through the Walmart app that’s accessible for the iPhone, has instead been embraced as the company’s preferred method of payment. Walmart Pay is a mobile payment system that, unlike Apple Pay and the majority of other mobile wallets, does not use near-field communication (NFC) technology.
Instead, customers can pay for their purchases by scanning a QR code that is displayed at checkout using a payment card that is saved in the Walmart Pay app.
While there are undeniably some advantages for Walmart in promoting its own mobile payments service, such as increasing the number of customers who download the Walmart app, having the ability to track a customer’s purchase history, and avoiding fees associated with Apple Pay, it is abundantly clear that Walmart is ignoring one of the most common requests made by its customers as a direct result of this.
On October 20, 2014, Apple Pay was introduced to the world after having been in development for just over eight years. Apple stated earlier this year in a press release that their payment system, Apple Pay, is accepted at more than 90 percent of stores in the United States.
However, there are a few prominent retailers that do not accept Apple Pay, including Walmart, The Home Depot, Lowe’s, and Kroger. Late in the year 2020, Walmart in Canada began officially accepting payments made with Apple Pay.
Does Walmart Accept Paypal?
Yes, payments made through PayPal can be made at Walmart. You can directly pay using your Paypal account when shopping on the Walmart app or website, but if you want to use PayPal to pay at a physical store, you will need a PayPal Cash Card.