The Walmart checkout lane is about to get a long-awaited upgrade.
The big-box store and its subsidiary, Sam’s Club, will soon accept mainstream contactless payment options like Apple Pay and Google Pay, the company announced in a press release on Friday. Walmart shoppers will be able to use Tap to Pay at select Walmart and Sam’s Club stores starting Monday, Aug. 24, it said. The company plans on offering Tap to Pay at all of its U.S. locations by the year’s end, then at its fuel stations by mid-2027.
“Tap to Pay gives customers and members another familiar and convenient way to pay at checkout using contactless payment methods,” Walmart said.
Previously, U.S. Walmart and Sam’s Club shoppers’ in-store payment options were limited to traditional methods like cash, check, gift cards, credit cards, and EBT cards, or an app-based “Scan & Go” feature.
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Since 2016, Walmart customers have also had the option of making purchases with Walmart Pay, a contactless payment option exclusive to the Walmart mobile app. Unlike conventional Tap to Pay options, which utilize near field communication (NFC) chips in phones and cards, Walmart Pay relies on scannable QR codes. However, Walmart Pay never really caught on the way Apple Pay has.
Walmart’s Canadian stores have accepted Tap to Pay since 2020. Adding support for them in the U.S. “is part of a broader effort to make managing and using their money easier,” Walmart said in the press release.
It also seems to be a response to overwhelming consumer demand. Walmart’s TikTok and Instagram posts announcing its upcoming Tap to Pay support featured screenshots of impassioned comments requesting the feature.
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r/walmart has been questioning and lamenting the retailer’s lack of Apple Pay support for nearly a decade. “It will never happen,” one Redditor wrote in a 2023 thread on the topic. “Walmart pay or it’s target for you fool.”
Never say never, folks!