Walmart Taking Its Proprietary Mobile Payment App Nationwide

Image courtesy of Walmart

Two months ago, Walmart took its mobile payment app, the logically named Walmart Pay, live in 590 stores in its home state of Arkansas and in the neighboring state of Texas. The test apparently went well: the retailer is bringing the app to customers in the rest of the country as of today.

qr_martUnlike some other mobile payment platforms, Walmart Pay works on every phone capable of running the app, and requires no special equipment other than an Android or iOS phone with a camera and a screen. Walmart gets to claim that the app already has 20 million users, since the payments are just one module of the company’s store app, which customers can also use for pharmacy refills, shopping, and the Savings Catcher rebate program.

Like the ill-fated CurrentC app, which Walmart helped plan, the Walmart Pay app scans a QR code that the store’s point of sale system generates when it’s time to pay.

The system uses credit and debit cards, prepaid debit cards, and Walmart gift cards, and shoppers can simply connect cards that are already loaded in their Walmart.com accounts. Making a purchase will require a PIN, to keep people from stealing your phone and going on a shopping spree.

Walmart Pay [Walmart]
Walmart Pay, the chain’s homegrown mobile payment system, goes nationwide [CNET]

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