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Walmart announced this month that customers at all 4,600 of its retail stores in the U.S. can now use Walmart Pay to pay for in-store purchases with their smartphones.
Walmart began testing the mobile payment platform at stores starting in December. Walmart Pay is part of the Walmart app, which has more than 22 million users per month, according to the company.
“Wal-Mart is betting that the new payment system will make the checkout process faster and more convenient, though it can’t yet quantify how much time it saves shoppers,” Bloomberg reports.
“With 140 million weekly shoppers, the expansion also puts the retailer in direct competition with technology giants such as Apple Inc., Alphabet Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co., which all offer their own ways for consumers to make mobile purchases.”
Customers who use Walmart’s mobile payment method have their payment information, including credit card numbers and gift card balances, protected in cloud storage.
When shoppers go to a checkout counter to buy products, they use their cellphone cameras to scan a code at the cash register and activate Walmart Pay. The cashier then scans and bags the items purchased, and no sensitive customer information is used at the register, according to Walmart. Electronic receipts are stored within the Walmart app.
