6 ms·

If only Walmart would take contactless payments.

jen20 3y ago
Presumably they do not because they want to track you via your credit card number, and permitting Apple Pay (maybe others too) would hinder that.
- illusive4080 3y ago
  I presume the same.
  - c0wb0yc0d3r 3y ago
    I always rate my experience 1 star when checking out at Walmart because of this. Probably won't change anything, but I feel I can't just stop going to Walmart because then Amazon is the only place left. Which is also fucked up but let's stay on topic.
- vel0city 3y ago
  It's more that they want to try and convince people to pay with Walmart's own lower-cost (to them) app if you want to do contactless payments from your phone. If they made it easier to use Apple Pay, why would anyone ever use their app?
  - tzs 3y ago
    Why would paying with the Walmart app be lower cost to Walmart? Both the Walmart app and Apple Pay are essentially, as far as payments go, just digital wallets that you can store credit card information in. When you use them it is still a charge to one of those credit cards. It might actually cost Walmart more in my case, because the card I have on file has larger rewards for online purchases than it does for in-store purchases, and the Walmart app processes purchases as online even when made in-store. If I pay with the physical card it is processed as in-store.
- bombcar 3y ago
  Apple Pay is just as traceable if they want it to be. They’re just stubborn and want people to use their option (and card, if possible). As it is you can load any credit card into the Walmart app and pay by pointing the “check price” barcode camera at the screen.
  - jen20 3y ago
    > Apple Pay is just as traceable if they want it to be. [Citation Needed]. On the other hand, stores like that probably already do facial recognition on customers, so it really is just intransigence to not allow contactless payments.
    - andrewaylett 3y ago
      Apple Pay and Google Pay have their own virtual numbers, rather than using your regular card number, but the number doesn't rotate. For example, our local bus company can quite happily offer capped daily and weekly fares when folk use the same device to pay.
      - jen20 3y ago
        Your local bus company isn't trying to correlate your activity across multiple retailers to try to squeeze an extra few cents of value from you, though.
    - supertrope 3y ago
      The device account number does not rotate with every transaction. You have to unlink your device from your credit account and re-enroll to do that.
    - bombcar 3y ago
      See https://birchtree.me/blog/digital-wallets-and-the-only-apple-pay-does-this-mythology/ https://birchtree.me/blog/digital-wallets-and-the-only-apple... - the DPAN stays the same at a particular merchant, so Walmart sees all but can't necessarily directly "know" what you're buying at other stores.
yoshamano 3y ago
It has more to do with making Walmart Pay the only contactless option to drive adoption of their mobile app.
ghaff 3y ago
I confess that I don't understand what the big deal is. It takes 5 seconds to slide the card into the machine. Personally, I find fumbling with my phone takes longer as does figuring out where the reader wants to tap the card if I'm not familiar with that particular store's system.
- vel0city 3y ago
  I often leave the house without even my wallet these days. With my phone being my car key and my wallet and my transit pass, there's little reason to carry anything else.
- hot_gril 3y ago
  I realized while waiting in line why Apple Pay makes sense to some people but not me: They're all on their phones in line, I'm not. So for them, it's a cc in pocket vs a phone already in hand.
- aembleton 3y ago
  It means you've got to take the card with you.
  - ghaff 3y ago
    Some of it may be that if I'm in a store, I've almost certainly driven there so I probably have my (small) wallet with me.
  - wincy 3y ago
    I use Walmart pay with their app. But then again we’ve totally given up buying off Amazon and do grocery pickup or delivery from Walmart. For 90% of items this is faster than we’d get it from Amazon.
  - brewdad 3y ago
    How often do you find yourself somewhere with your phone but not your wallet?
    - 3y ago

Presumably they do not because they want to track you via your credit card number, and permitting Apple Pay (maybe others too) would hinder that.

illusive4080 3y ago
I presume the same.
- c0wb0yc0d3r 3y ago
  I always rate my experience 1 star when checking out at Walmart because of this. Probably won't change anything, but I feel I can't just stop going to Walmart because then Amazon is the only place left. Which is also fucked up but let's stay on topic.
vel0city 3y ago
It's more that they want to try and convince people to pay with Walmart's own lower-cost (to them) app if you want to do contactless payments from your phone. If they made it easier to use Apple Pay, why would anyone ever use their app?
- tzs 3y ago
  Why would paying with the Walmart app be lower cost to Walmart? Both the Walmart app and Apple Pay are essentially, as far as payments go, just digital wallets that you can store credit card information in. When you use them it is still a charge to one of those credit cards. It might actually cost Walmart more in my case, because the card I have on file has larger rewards for online purchases than it does for in-store purchases, and the Walmart app processes purchases as online even when made in-store. If I pay with the physical card it is processed as in-store.
bombcar 3y ago
Apple Pay is just as traceable if they want it to be. They’re just stubborn and want people to use their option (and card, if possible). As it is you can load any credit card into the Walmart app and pay by pointing the “check price” barcode camera at the screen.
- jen20 3y ago
  > Apple Pay is just as traceable if they want it to be. [Citation Needed]. On the other hand, stores like that probably already do facial recognition on customers, so it really is just intransigence to not allow contactless payments.
  - andrewaylett 3y ago
    Apple Pay and Google Pay have their own virtual numbers, rather than using your regular card number, but the number doesn't rotate. For example, our local bus company can quite happily offer capped daily and weekly fares when folk use the same device to pay.
    - jen20 3y ago
      Your local bus company isn't trying to correlate your activity across multiple retailers to try to squeeze an extra few cents of value from you, though.
  - supertrope 3y ago
    The device account number does not rotate with every transaction. You have to unlink your device from your credit account and re-enroll to do that.
  - bombcar 3y ago
    See https://birchtree.me/blog/digital-wallets-and-the-only-apple-pay-does-this-mythology/ https://birchtree.me/blog/digital-wallets-and-the-only-apple... - the DPAN stays the same at a particular merchant, so Walmart sees all but can't necessarily directly "know" what you're buying at other stores.

yoshamano 3y ago

It has more to do with making Walmart Pay the only contactless option to drive adoption of their mobile app.

ghaff 3y ago

I confess that I don't understand what the big deal is. It takes 5 seconds to slide the card into the machine. Personally, I find fumbling with my phone takes longer as does figuring out where the reader wants to tap the card if I'm not familiar with that particular store's system.

vel0city 3y ago
I often leave the house without even my wallet these days. With my phone being my car key and my wallet and my transit pass, there's little reason to carry anything else.
hot_gril 3y ago
I realized while waiting in line why Apple Pay makes sense to some people but not me: They're all on their phones in line, I'm not. So for them, it's a cc in pocket vs a phone already in hand.
aembleton 3y ago
It means you've got to take the card with you.
- ghaff 3y ago
  Some of it may be that if I'm in a store, I've almost certainly driven there so I probably have my (small) wallet with me.
- wincy 3y ago
  I use Walmart pay with their app. But then again we’ve totally given up buying off Amazon and do grocery pickup or delivery from Walmart. For 90% of items this is faster than we’d get it from Amazon.
- brewdad 3y ago
  How often do you find yourself somewhere with your phone but not your wallet?
  - 3y ago