Walmart Pay launches in select stores

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. launched Walmart Pay on Dec. 10, 2015, in select stores in Bentonville, Ark., where the company is headquartered. Nationwide rollout is expected to be completed during the first half of 2016.

Prior to the launch, 21 million customers were already active users of the retail chain's existing mobile app. With the addition of Walmart Pay, mobile payment access will now extend across iOS and Android devices; with acceptance of all major credit, debit, prepaid and Wal-Mart gift cards; and to all in-store checkout lanes.

"Walmart Pay is the latest example – and a powerful addition – of how we are transforming the shopping experience by seamlessly connecting online, mobile and stores for the 140 million customers who shop with us weekly," said Neil Ashe, President and Chief Executive Officer of Global eCommerce for Wal-Mart.

To execute payment, Walmart Pay users must first open the Walmart app, select Walmart Pay to activate the smartphone camera and then scan the quick response code displayed at the register. The code associates the user's designated payment method with the checkout basket. Items are then scanned and bagged, and an electronic receipt sent to the user's phone.

MCX in or out?

Some have speculated that Wal-Mart's decision to release Walmart Pay renders its affiliation with payment consortium Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX) obsolete. The MCX's CurrentC mobile app, initially backed by major retailers including Wal-Mart, Best Buy Co. Inc., Target Corp. and others, has been slow to take off, and its exclusive partnerships have since lapsed, leaving an opening for competitors like Apple Pay, Samsung Pay and LG Pay to step in.

However, according to press statements, Wal-Mart and MCX will continue to collaborate, just not on an exclusive basis. "We made a strategic decision to design Walmart Pay to work with almost any smartphone and accept almost any payment type – even allowing for the integration of other mobile wallets in the future," said Daniel Eckert, Senior Vice President, Services, at the retail giant's Walmart U.S. division.

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