BENTONVILLE, Ark.–Walmart announced it is now rolling out Walmart Pay, a smartphone-based payment solution that the company said will work with all credit and debit cards, as well as its own gift cards.
The rollout is beginning in select stores this month, with plans for a full rollout by mid-2016.
Walmart Pay will work on both iOS and Android devices.
While Apple Pay, and to a lesser extent Android Pay, would seem to be the likely targets of the new Walmart entry, analysts say the real casualty is likely to be MCX, an effort led by Walmart and a number of major retailers that was formed in 2012 to compete with Apple Pay and other new payments solutions via a service called CurrentC. The MCX offering has suffered to date from a number of delays.
Walmart Pay is essentially the same technology but is limited to its own stores.
The new solution from Walmart differs in some ways from Apple Pay and Android Pay. Walmart Pay requires a user to open an app on their phone and with the smartphone’s camera then scan a barcode on the register screen at checkout. That sends a signal to the register that payment will be coming via the app and further allows an itemized receipt of the purchases made to be sent to the smartphone. Payment is made by whatever credit or debit card the consumer has linked to the app.
“Built with the goal of improving how customers check out and dramatically expanding mobile payment access, Walmart Pay is like no other mobile payments solution available today,” the company said in a released statement.”
Walmart said 22 million customers actively use the Walmart app each month and that it ranks among the top three retail apps in the Google and Apple app stores. “The Walmart app enhances the shopping experience in Walmart stores with features including checking in to pick up an online order at a Walmart store, refilling pharmacy prescriptions and finding an item’s store location,” Walmart added.