Contrary to popular belief, but Walmart does indeed accept Apple Pay…just not in the United States.
Walmart stores in Canada are the place where Apple Pay users can pay with Apple Pay at the checkout. It has been accepting Apple Pay there since late 2020.
This was recently shared by Twitter user @BasicAppleGuy that showed a tweet with a GIF of Apple Pay working on an iPhone at a Canadian Walmart.
Behold: Apple Pay at Walmart!
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In Canada, Walmart has accepted Apple Pay since late 2020. pic.twitter.com/0M9r7VX8HQ— Basic Apple Guy (@BasicAppleGuy) February 20, 2023
What makes this even more interesting is that technically, if necessary, Walmart could accept Apple Pay in the U.S. The card reader that is being used is an Ingenico Lane/7000, which many American Walmart stores have switched to for in-store card readers.
However, Walmart in the U.S. has yet to enable the Near Field Communication (NFC) chip or contactless to begin accepting payment methods like Apple Pay in its stores.
The company instead promotes the usage of its Walmart Pay payment method that is available in the Walmart app. Once the user has made a Walmart.com account, they can add their payment info to the account which can then be accessed through the Walmart app. When paying for items at the checkout, the user scans a QR code on the card reader which then gets the payment info on the Walmart account and uses it to pay for the items in the store transaction. All of it is done without the user needing to take out their physical credit or debit card.
Walmart is not the only company with this issue in the U.S. Other companies like Home Depot have been a long time holdout on Apple Pay acceptance, despite having the same Ingenico Lane/7000 card reader as the Canadian Walmart stores.
What are your thoughts on all of this? Do you think Walmart will ever accept Apple Pay in its stores? Comment below or let us know on Twitter at @appleosophy.
My local Walmart store suggested they will soon be offering Splitit. Apparently, many customers are asking to use a credit card and pay over time.
It’s an interesting sign of the times. Lots more retailers and online stores are accepting buy-now-pay-later schemes – with Apple Pay Later still pending!