Walmart launches its own mobile payment solution, Walmart Pay. (Photo : Waltonian)
Since the launch of Apple Pay and LG pay, WalMart has unveiled a new mobile payment solution called Walmart Pay on Thursday. It enables buyers to purchase at its stores via a quick three-step process.
The mobile payment system will begin to roll out to some stores on Thursday. Around half of Walmart's online orders over Thanksgiving weekend came from mobile devices, and customers in stores used the application at almost double the rate they did during the same period a year ago, Walmart executives said.
Walmart Pay will be available for all smartphone, which has more than 22 million active monthly users, according to the company says. It's all most like Chase Pay, which is based on QR codes, not like Apple Pay, which is the tap-and-pay NFC technology. Options include paying via credit, debit or gift card. When users come at the register, a QR code will pop up at the payment screen.
WalMart's payment system begins the first stage of rollout at a handful of stores in its home market of Bentonville, Arkansas, on Thursday. WalMart is billing the ability, which is made possible via an exclusive software upgrade on its point-of-sale systems. This is the first time a retailer, who has offered this type of mobile payment solution, according to Walmart.
Neil Asche, president and CEO of global e-commerce at Wal-Mart said that Walmart's technology is different in that it enables shoppers with nearly any type of smartphone to use its payment choice. That stands in opposition to systems such as Apple Pay or Android Pay, which are only available on specific devices.
"We're really working hard to create a seamless shopping experience," said Neil Asche, according to CNBC.
While Walmart Pay has been developed so that Apple Pay or a similar method could be integrated in the future, there is not yet a special plan to do so, Asche said. The executive also repeated Wal-Mart's commitment to MCX's CurrentC payment program, with which it and 12 other retailers are included in an active pilot.
