A worker pushes shopping carts in front of a Wal-Mart store in La Habra, Calif. The world’s largest retailer is testing its own mobile payment system that will allow shoppers to pay with any major credit or debit card or its own store gift card through its app at the cash register.The mobile payment wars are heating up.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world’s largest retailer, said it’s testing its own mobile payment system that will allow shoppers to pay with any major credit or debit card or its own store gift card through its app at the cash register.
The world’s biggest retailer started testing the new payment system last week at its stores in the Bentonville, Arkansas area, where the retailer is based. It plans to launch the payment feature in all 4,500-plus U.S. stores in the first half of next year. While some stores like Starbucks or Dunkin’ Donuts allow customers to pay with gift cards, Wal-Mart says it will become the first retailer to launch its own mobile payment system that works with an iPhone or Android device – and with a major credit or debit card.
It’s part of an overall mobile strategy to making shopping easier and faster, and it’s the latest feature to be added to its mobile app. But the move is the latest salvo in the battle for mobile payments that’s in the early stages. Retailers, financial institutions and hardware makers are all trying to get a piece of what could be a very lucrative business.
Wal-Mart has moved into this field as Apple’s one-year-old tap-and-pay system is being expanded to other merchants like Best Buy and KFC and comes several months after Google launched the Android Pay mobile wallet app and Samsung came out with Samsung Pay.