AppleInsider Staff
The latest update to retail colossus Walmart's first-party iOS app included a significant new feature — support for Walmart Pay, the company's in-house mobile payments effort.
Walmart Pay is a QR-code based payment system, similar to the stillborn CurrentC option in which Walmart was a partner. The most significant difference comes in payment methods — Walmart Pay does not support direct debit, a tentpole CurrentC feature.
Users are required to create an account on Walmart.com and link a credit or debit card or add a Walmart Gift Card. Subsequently logging in on their mobile device will make that payment method available in the store.
Payment within the app is protected by a four-digit security code, and owners of supported iPhones can choose to boost that protection to include Touch ID. After authenticating, users will be asked to scan the QR code at the register — they will receive an electronic receipt when payment is successful.
In practice, this approach is similar to the long-running Starbucks in-app payment system. Though the coffee chain uses pre-filled wallets and a different variety of barcode, the checkout flow is the same.
Walmart Pay is available in select Walmart stores throughout the U.S., and continues to expand. There is no word yet on exactly which stores are compatible, but the company expects to have full coverage in the U.S. by the end of 2016.
The Walmart app is a free, 48.9-megabyte download from the App Store.
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11 Comments
fail
Is this a really late April fool's joke?
The space on my 16GB iPhone 4s is at a premium. Why should I install a 48.9MB app that works for only one store that I rarely shop at, may not work at that one, and requires me to spend a bunch of time setting up an account? In a typical month I shop at about 12 different stores. I'm not about to install an app for each individual merchant.
My wife uses the Starbucks app because she gets a lot of SB cards gifted to her. It's usually a difficult experience just to get the barcode to scan. Apple Pay is sooooo much easier.
Why doesn't Walmart stick to what it's good at, which is selling cheap shit, instead of trying to take on something much better left to those that are actually capable of offering a good user experience? I don't need a fucking payment app for every retailer I shop at.