'Walmart Pay' Mobile Wallet Rolls Out to Nearly 600 Stores in Texas and Arkansas
After an initial announcement late last year, and a small test rollout, Walmart is now beginning a statewide launch of its in-house mobile payments solution Walmart Pay in Texas and Arkansas.
All 480 Walmart retail locations in Texas will support the mobile wallet service beginning today, as well as the 110 stores in Arkansas. Although the company continues to reiterate its plans for a wide-release rollout in the United States soon, it's still yet to give customers a specific launch window for Walmart Pay beyond the two states announced today.
“We can’t wait to hear what our customers and associates in Texas [and Arkansas] think of Walmart Pay. The service was built to make shopping easier and faster, something we know our customers want,” said Daniel Eckert, senior vice president, Services, Walmart U.S. “Walmart Pay is a powerful addition to our app, a tool that we’re using to transform the shopping experience by seamlessly connecting our online assets and our stores for customers. The service opens the door to new and better ways we can serve the 140 million customers who shop our stores each week.”
Unlike Apple Pay's NFC and Touch ID system, there are a few added steps to successfully check out with Walmart Pay: users have to navigate to the Walmart app on their phone, tap through to the Walmart Pay section, and then scan a QR code displayed at the register. Users can set up the app to be protected by a PIN or Touch ID, and the company says that "mostly any card" can be directly linked as a payment method for the service.
Walmart was part of an original collection of retailers who opposed Apple Pay in favor of an alternative mobile payments service, CurrentC, along with companies like Best Buy and Target. Best Buy has since backed support for Apple Pay, while Target is working on its own QR code solution, similar to Walmart Pay.
Although the launch of Walmart Pay suggests that the company isn't interested in integrating with other digital wallets -- like Apple Pay -- down the line, last year Walmart senior vice president of services Daniel Eckert said the QR code service allows "for integration of other mobile wallets in the future." Eckert continued to describe Walmart Pay as "an innovation that will make the ease of mobile payments a reality for millions of Americans.”
The Walmart App can be downloaded from the App Store for free [Direct Link].
Popular Stories
Following nearly two years of rumors about a fourth-generation iPhone SE, The Information today reported that Apple suppliers are finally planning to begin ramping up mass production of the device in October of this year. If accurate, that timeframe would mean that the next iPhone SE would not be announced alongside the iPhone 16 series in September, as expected. Instead, the report...
Key details about the overall specifications of the iPhone 17 lineup have been shared by the leaker known as "Ice Universe," clarifying several important aspects of next year's devices. Reports in recent months have converged in agreement that Apple will discontinue the "Plus" iPhone model in 2025 while introducing an all-new iPhone 17 "Slim" model as an even more high-end option sitting...
Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo today shared alleged specifications for a new ultra-thin iPhone 17 model rumored to launch next year. Kuo expects the device to be equipped with a 6.6-inch display with a current-size Dynamic Island, a standard A19 chip rather than an A19 Pro chip, a single rear camera, and an Apple-designed 5G chip. He also expects the device to have a...
Apple typically releases its new iPhone series around mid-September, which means we are about two months out from the launch of the iPhone 16. Like the iPhone 15 series, this year's lineup is expected to stick with four models – iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max – although there are plenty of design differences and new features to take into account. To bring ...
Apple’s iCloud Private Relay service is down for some users, according to Apple’s System Status page. Apple says that the iCloud Private Relay service may be slow or unavailable. The outage started at 2:34 p.m. Eastern Time, but it does not appear to be affecting all iCloud users. Some impacted users are unable to browse the web without turning iCloud Private Relay off, while others are...
Apple is planning to release at least one iPhone 17 model next year with mechanical aperture, according to a report published today by The Information. The mechanical system would allow users to adjust the size of the iPhone 17's aperture, which refers to the opening of the camera lens through which light enters. All existing iPhone camera lenses have fixed apertures, but some Android...
