Walmart Expands Tap to Pay as Amazon Builds Its AI Capacity
Walmart ends its holdout on Apple Pay and Google Pay, signaling a major shift toward universal contactless payment acceptance in retail.
Curated by Financing Your Way from original reporting by PYMNTS. Summary is AI-assisted and editorially reviewed — see our editorial standards.
Walmart is finally ending its long-standing holdout on universal contactless payments. For years, the retail giant forced customers to use its proprietary Walmart Pay app to facilitate mobile transactions. Now, the company is rolling out tap-to-pay functionality across its U.S. stores. This change means your customers can soon use Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, and contactless cards at Walmart locations. For retailers and operators, this marks a significant shift in the payments landscape. It signals that even the largest players recognize they can no longer force consumers into closed-loop ecosystems. Shoppers now prioritize speed and the ability to use their preferred digital wallets. This move is particularly important for financing and BNPL providers. Many modern consumer financing options are delivered via virtual cards in digital wallets. By opening up their terminals, Walmart is essentially lowering the barrier for customers to use third-party credit and financing tools at the point of sale. If you have been hesitant to adopt contactless technology, this move by the nation's largest retailer suggests that universal payment acceptance is no longer optional. It is now a baseline expectation for the modern shopping experience. The shift helps reduce friction at checkout, which is proven to increase conversion rates and average order values.
Source: PYMNTS
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