US: Walmart launches Walmart Pay

Walmart, the USA’s leading grocery retailer, has unveiled its own mobile payment called Walmart Pay in a bid to compete with tech players such as Apple and Google.

Walmart Pay is a payment system adapted to Walmart’s iOS and Android mobile apps and is promoted as “a fast, easy and secure way for customers to pay with their smartphones in Walmart stores”. The system allows customers to make purchases at the till using their credit or debit card or a Walmart gift card by scanning a QR code with their phone’s camera.

“The simplicity and ease of Walmart Pay comes not only from how it works, but also in how it’s been built,” said Daniel Eckert, senior vice president, services, Walmart US.  “We made a strategic decision to design Walmart Pay to work with almost any smartphone and accept almost any payment type – even allowing for the integration of other mobile wallets in the future. The result is an innovation that will make the ease of mobile payments a reality for millions of Americans”.

According to a report in The Guardian, Walmart is claiming to be the first grocery retailer to launch its own mobile payment system that works on both iPhone or Android devices and links to a major credit or debit card, although some food retailers, including Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts, already allow a similar gift card payment method.

Walmart Pay is currently being tested in selected stores around Bentonville, Arkansas, with a view to being made available across the USA by mid 2016.

Source: Walmart  / The Guardian