Do not invest more money than you can afford to lose.
On Thursday, the retailer announced the launch of its brand new Walmart Pay, which will enable consumers to make mobile payments when in store.
The feature requires customers to choose Walmart Pay within the retailer’s mobile app at a checkout counter, activate their phone camera and scan the code displayed at the register, after which an e-receipt will be sent to the app. Electronic payment and scanning facilities are part of apps launched many months ago and include Apple Pay, which cannot be used at Wal-Mart stores. “The other solutions are limited to only certain types of phones, operating systems, or certain payment types-and sometimes all three of those”, said Daniel Eckert, SVP Services for Walmart U.S.
A nationwide rollout is due next year and according to Neil Ashe, president and CEO of Walmart Global eCommerce, the timing couldn’t be better given the trends Walmart is seeing this holiday season. This is because the retailer has favored its own form of payment service called Walmart Pay, which they released today. 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.
The goal with Walmart Pay is to improve customer checkout and dramatically expand mobile payment access. The company says you can even pay half the bill with cash and the rest through Walmart Pay. The stubborn refusal to accept Apple Pay, though, is surely frustrating for the many users of that payment method.
The way that Walmart Pay works is that you approach your checkout lane and launch the Walmart app, then select Walmart Pay. “But now, we’re beginning to see that no, that’s probably not the way it’s going to develop, and it’s not something we’re just going to give over to Apple or Google. The result was Walmart Pay”.
The US largest retailer informed that around 22 million active users use the Walmart app each month. Presently, shoppers can now check in when they head over to a store to send a signal to staff that they are there to pick up the items they purchased online.
