Kroger Begins Accepting Apple Pay After Years of Holding Out

Kroger this week began accepting Apple Pay and other contactless payment methods at select locations in Kentucky and Ohio, allowing customers to tap to pay with an iPhone or Apple Watch at checkout, according to customers on Reddit and Twitter.

Apple Pay Kroger
It's unclear how many Kroger locations are now accepting Apple Pay, or if NFC-based payments will be expanded to all of the over 1,200 grocery stores that operate under the namesake Kroger brand. We have reached out to a company spokesperson for comment and will update this story if we receive any additional information.

Kroger was one of the largest Apple Pay holdouts in the U.S. since the service launched in 2014, alongside Walmart, The Home Depot, and Lowe's. Kroger did roll out Apple Pay at some of its other grocery chains in the past few years, including Ralphs in California, QFC in Washington and Oregon, and King Soopers in Colorado and Wyoming.

Kroger-owned chain Fred Meyer also recently started accepting Apple Pay at its stores in the Northwest, a spokesperson confirmed, while its North Carolina-based banner Harris Teeter tweeted it is "working towards accepting Apple Pay."

In a press release last year, Apple said that Apple Pay was accepted at more than 90% of U.S. retailers, and Kroger is a significant addition. The company also continues to offer its own service called Kroger Pay, which requires customers to scan a QR code at checkout to pay with a debit or credit card stored in the Kroger app.

Related Roundup: Apple Pay

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Top Rated Comments

kylew1212 Avatar
28 months ago
Wow! Did I die and just not get the memo?

Certainly didn’t see this coming anytime soon.
Please let Home Depot & Lowe’s be next.
Score: 34 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Reason077 Avatar
28 months ago
It’s quite strange from the UK perspective that there are still stores in the US which block Apple Pay.

Acceptance here is 100%, so much so that I can go everywhere with just my phone/watch to pay for things and not even think about my wallet.

And cash? I can barely remember the last time I needed an ATM…
Score: 27 Votes (Like | Disagree)
kognos Avatar
28 months ago
Kroger pay is an abomination. They don't have any idea how to make something easy or quick. Launching an app and then going into that app to get a QR code to then scan physically is not something you want to see anyone do - it's like the equivalent of seeing someone be told "that'll be 32.50 ma'am" and then seeing them act surprised that they need to pay, and open up their purse to rummage for the chequebook and a pen and start writing. It's like scary slow.

Contactless payment should be standard, and not just Apple Pay. Kroger just are incredibly cheap and won't modernize. It's pretty bad honestly when my 7-11 will take anything but Kroger will not.

Bear in mind that Kroger claimed they did this before in a similar limited market and claimed that there wasn't a lot of desire for it. Don't be fooled - they are only trying to prevent modernization and that expense.
Score: 26 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DocMultimedia Avatar
28 months ago
Everything should accept Apple pay. And others.
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MrRom92 Avatar
28 months ago
It amazes me how far ahead Europe is when it comes to this stuff. Totally different world. Here in the US using a physical card is still a daily occurrence, Apple Pay terminals are more common than they once were but they’re still the exception rather than the rule. I still often get looked at like I just did some crazy wizard stuff when I try to use Apple Pay here. And in any restaurant, handing over your card is still the standard procedure. There’s no way to use Apple Pay even if you wanted to.

On the other hand, Just spent a week in London and I didn’t so much as even LOOK at my card the entire time, not even once. Or paper money either, for that matter. No matter where I went, even restaurants. Apple Pay/tap to pay terminals are e v e r y w h e r e and that’s what you’re expected to use. Just a normal part of daily life, as it should be.
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
name99 Avatar
28 months ago

Apple charges more in processing fees than the standard credit card does.
No they don't! In fact Apple Pay charges no extra fees, and the Merchant Fees are slightly reduced compared to standard credit cards. They also get a slightly reduced rate because the tech they use makes fraud harder, so the "insurance" part of the fees goes dow (ie they only pay the NFC rate, not the magnetic swipe rate, for obvious reasons)

At least so claims: https://blog.clover.com/apple-pay-for-business-what-will-it-cost-me/
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)