“Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s app is close to surpassing Apple Pay in usage for mobile payments in the U.S., giving the world’s largest retailer even more clout as a growing number of people shop with their smartphones,” Olga Kharif and Matthew Boyle report for Bloomberg.
“Available in 4,774 stores, Walmart Pay is enrolling tens of thousands of new users a day, up from thousands four or five months ago, said Daniel Eckert, who runs the business. Two-thirds of the customers who try it also use it a second time within 21 days, he said, giving him confidence Walmart Pay will surpass Apple Pay in the U.S. in terms of use by shoppers in stores where they’re accepted,” Kharif and Boyle report. “‘If daily enrollments don’t slow down, I think that’s pretty well in the cards shortly,’ said Eckert, senior vice president for services and digital acceleration. ‘I would have to imagine we are getting pretty close.'”
“Wal-Mart is the biggest retailer rejecting Apple Pay,” Kharif and Boyle report. “Wal-Mart began narrowing Apple’s lead earlier this year. Some 5.1 percent of Wal-Mart shoppers said they used Walmart Pay in June, compared with 5.5 percent of iPhone users at stores that accept Apple Pay, which launched more than a year earlier, according to a survey by Pymnts.com and InfoScout. ”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: “Walmart Pay will surpass Apple Pay in the U.S. in terms of use by shoppers in stores where they’re accepted.”
Ridiculous.
Apple Pay is accepted everywhere there is an NFC terminal where is not artificially blocked (like in Walmart). Walmart Pay works only in Walmart. So, Apple Pay is used in 5.9% of all transactions across a broad range of retailers (millions of locations) while Walmart Pay is used in 5.1% of transactions in Walmart.
Walmart Pay is not about to overtake Apple Pay in the U.S.
SEE ALSO:
Apple Pay now in 20 countries, takes 90% of all contactless payments where active – October 24, 2017
Apple Pay is proliferating, and the banks are scared – October 18, 2017
Apple Pay likely to get boost from Visa and Mastercard mandating contactless payment terminals – August 21, 2017
Apple Pay usage estimated to rise sharply in United States due to frustration with slow Chip-and-PIN cards – August 21, 2017
Just my Big Question?
How?
Just keep dreaming WM
This article just proves what shit-source for information is Bloomberg. Who in their right mind would compare the use cases of these two electronic payment products as if there was some equivalency?
Olga Kharif and Matthew Boyle reporting for Bloomberg must have received a stash of Walmart gift cards to concoct this tortured comparison.
Bloomberg is not a Fanboy site. Their job is to inform their subscribers ($2,000 a month) – some of the highest wealth people in the world.
Was-Mart’s standard tactic is to bring “partners in and then squeeze them out like an anaconda” With flat growth in retail and not stellar growth in groceries, they are moving to Banking and other services to find growth. One area is bill payment and payment processing.
Tim Cook selling through Was-Mart is a stupid as doing business with Samsung. Tim should make sure Wally World gets no iPhone 8’s or X’s through the Christmas and Tax season. Tell the crooks in Bentonville to open up to Apple Pay or get a dribble of lesser Apple product.
Their readers are ill served when their reporting is as myopic and non-contexted as this article was. And as for “Fanboys”: fanboys may like to hear great things about their product of choice, and may hate hearing criticism, but we don’t like the stink of obvious deception. I hope we can all agree that no one should prosper by spreading lies, or publishing “news” written to be intentionally deceptive. This Bloomberg article was crafted with the clear intention of conveying a Walmart achievement as being more than it is at the expense of minimizing the achievement and status of Apple Pay. Bloomberg could have reported a great story about how well Walmarts e-payment system was working out for the company without inserting a bogus comparison with Apple. I don’t care what news outlet is doing it, or how much their subscribers pay per month, playing fast and loose with facts as news shouldn’t be tolerated and needs to be called out.
Not a fan of Wal-Mart, but they are a huge and significant retailer. Apple should push back against their ham handed attempt to cripple Apple Pay.
That said, Wal-Mart sells better than 25¢ of every $ spent on Groceries in the United States. They also have a significant retail presence outside of groceries, provide banking services, etc.
It’s going to take Walmart customers to do the push back. If those customers simply adopt “Walmart Pay” as good enough, then Walmart wins—at Walmart. Don’t really know what Apple can do but continue getting Apple Pay adopted everywhere else first. If enough people find Apple Pay compelling, and Walmart is the last company on earth not accepting it, then maybe their customers will push. IMO Apple needs to persuade, not push.
WalMart has been known to have a very large and successful IT department. I wouldn’t be surprised if WalMart Pay starts at WalMart but expands to be used elsewhere as a general NFC payment system in the future.
Agree that the article is jumping the gun on how quickly it will overtake Apple Pay.
A quick search determined Walmart had 11,554 stores worldwide as of 2015 with 4672 U.S. stores as of this year.
I’m pretty certain those 4,774 stores are just Walmart locations… and with 2/3 of their users only using it about twice a month, Walmart isn’t even close to ApplePay.
My point is that WalMart Pay could evolve to be more than just a payment system for WalMart. Stating the number of WalMart stores doesn’t make a difference.
Looking into it further I see it is not NFC based but like the ill-fated CurrentC, a unique QR code is scanned. I have noted some local banks allowing use of ATMs by scanning a QR code from a user’s smartphone. I don’t see why WalMart Pay which uses the same method will easily fail. Perhaps CurrentC was a little too early for its time.
They may well be losing some of that retail presence.
The Walmarts in my town all stopped price matching other stores, while installing more self checkout registers. All the other chain stores have lower prices on fresh vegetables… and they’re better quality, too.
All the Walmarts I’ve been into (I travel back and forth across the country a couple of times a year) only have branches of local banks. In fact, my bank had a branch in the Walmart closest to me and it pulled out a couple of years ago. They had an ATM there for a while, but eventually pulled it. No other bank has opened a branch in it since.
We’re actually shopping less at Walmart than six months ago. I only see that trend increasing.
It’s my feeling that WalMart’s current woes are more likely Amazon’s influence in the same markets.
Why the media cannot report anything with any level of accuracy is amazing. no details, no perspective… just an Ad for Walmart.
I don’t see where Walmart is signing up anyone for their App.. because other than the scan & go self serve terminals, I see people swiping cards and cash while waiting in line because they don’t want to use the self serve terminals.
About the only app that might used regularly is the scan & go app for Sam’s Club, with that one, you can actually save time and avoid lines and quickly check yourself out.
@Macinfo – don’t be to surprised. Modern media seems to have tossed out the ‘old-fashioned’ standards like verifying sources and having reporters who actually know something about what they are reporting on. If you want a real HOOT read their reports on Science and/or Religion. These people are just plain ignorant.
Technically, there is nothing inaccurate or false in the article above.
What Walmart states is likely true, but MDN’s take provides proper perspective that remains hidden in the article.
6% of a few thousand stores, even if they are Walmart, is still significantly less than 4% of hundreds of thousands of shops, stores, services.
In other words, while the article is factual, it is grossly misleading.
Goes to show you that Bloomberg’s financial web site is nothing but their manipulative spin and NOT a real financial news site.
This from the store that locks up $1.06 barbasol shaving cream, yet does not lock up $11.99 couch medicine.
cough…..
Damn, I could use a bit of couch medicine.
That is as amusing as it is desperate.
I avoid MallWart whenever I can.
Easy to do in NYC. There is not a single Walmart store in NYC (closest one is about 1 hr away in New Jersey).
Go to Costco – they treat their workers a LOT better. There’s a Costco near me in Manhattan.
Maybe ApplePay is just a hobby?
Just for the record, I love ApplePay and use it as often as I can.
Walmart NO
CVS NO
Target YES
Walgreen’s YES
I only use my AmX at Walmart because they don’t accept Apple Pay. 🙂
“Some 5.1 percent of Wal-Mart shoppers said they used Walmart Pay in June, compared with 5.5 percent of iPhone users at stores that accept Apple Pay”
So, 5.1% of the shoppers in 4774 Walmart stores, vs 5.5% of the shoppers in over 2 million retail stores. While Walmart has lots of shoppers, still, when you only compare 4774 points-of-sale, to over a couple million, the actual nominal figures of users has to be of an order of magnitude different.