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Walmart has officially adopted tap-to-pay with both Apple Pay and Google Pay.
It was the last major retailer to accept them, instead pushing its own Walmart Pay.
There is a way Walmart can still push its own payment system and reap the benefits.
This morning, Walmart announced it will begin accepting tap-to-pay payments from credit cards, Google Pay, Apple Pay, and other NFC systems. Meanwhile, Walmart's QR code payment system is the last major holdout from the tap-to-pay revolution that has swept across the US over the past several years. At this point, about 85% of retailers in the US accept tap-to-pay.
Obviously, tap-to-pay is popular because of its speed at checkout -- it takes less time to tap your phone to the POS than to fish out a credit card (or, God forbid, count out cash). Plus, it adds security by encrypting your payment information into a one-time-use token that only banks can decipher. That way, even if the company suffers a data breach, only the token is compromised -- not your actual payment information.
Also: How to use Google Wallet - and why you should already
As someone who has proudly not carried cash for almost 10 years and has used my phone for payments, I've been interested in various payment platforms -- including Walmart Pay. I always carry credit cards with me for those rare times I can't use my phone, but they've stayed pretty secure in my wallet for a while now.
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