Over the last year, we’ve seen multiple long-term holdouts finally cave to the pressure and adopt Apple Pay. At this point, the largest holdout in the United States is Walmart, and the company today indicated that it has absolutely zero plans to change its stance.
Walmart’s stance on Apple Pay isn’t changing
For years, Walmart has insisted that its own payment technologies are superior to Apple Pay. For example, it launched “Walmart Pay” across the United States in 2016. Walmart Pay works by having shoppers scan a QR code at checkout, then complete their payment on their phone. The company also offers a “Scan & Go” platform that lets users skip checkout lines altogether, but there are a number of limitations on when you can actually use that offering.
At one point, Walmart even tried to justify its decision by making the bizarre claim that Walmart Pay is more popular than Apple Pay.
In a statement to MacRumors, a Walmart spokesperson said that it believes these “convenient solutions” negate the need for the retail chain to support Apple Pay:
We do not accept NFC and instead have implemented convenient solutions, such as Walmart Pay, that provide our customers easy, touchless payments on any smartphone. We have also invested in innovative technologies that go beyond payments, such as Scan & Go, which allow Sam’s Club and Walmart+ members to bypass the checkout altogether, providing a truly touchless shopping experience.
I’d wager that the vast majority of Walmart shoppers strongly disagree with the sentiment. A quick search on social media reveals that Walmart shoppers are incredibly frustrated by the company’s lack of Apple Pay support.
What’s the real reason Walmart doesn’t support Apple Pay? My belief is that it all boils down to data collection. Apple Pay comes with a number of privacy protections in place that prevent a merchant from learning about your transaction history. This makes it harder, if not impossible, for merchants like Walmart to track your purchase patterns. Tracking your purchase history is something Walmart relies on for building customer profiles for targeted ads, marketing, and more.
While Walmart continues to neglect Apple Pay, other long-term holdouts have started to cave. Kroger rolled out Apple Pay support in 2023, followed by grocery chain H-E-B and Home Depot.
Has Walmart’s lack of Apple Pay support affected your shopping habits? Do you think the company will ever launch support for the platform? Let us know down in the comments.
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