Wal-Mart could top Apple in U.S. mobile payments

Enrolling tens of thousands of users per day

PORTLAND, ORE. • Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’ s app is close to surpassing Apple Pay in usage for mobile payments in the U.S., giving the world’s largest retailer even more clout as a growing number of people shop with their smartphones.

Available in 4,774 stores, Walmart Pay is enrolling tens of thousands of new users a day, up from thousands four or five months ago, said Daniel Eckert, who runs the business. Two- thirds of the customers who try it use it a second time within 21 days, he said, giving him confidence Walmart Pay will surpass Apple Pay in the U. S. in use by shoppers in stores where they’re accepted.

“If daily enrolments don’t slow down, I think that’s pretty well in the cards shortly,” said Eckert, senior vice president for services and digital acceleration. “I would have to imagine we are getting pretty close.”

Richard Crone, chief executive officer of researcher Crone Consulting LLC, estimates Walmart will pass Apple Pay in active U.S. users — those making at least two transactions a month — by the end of 2018.

Wal- Mart is the biggest retailer rejecting Apple Pay, which requires merchants to have the right hardware at checkout. Since it rolled out in 2014, Apple has attracted retailers including Best Buy Co., Macy’s Inc. and Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. Apple doesn’t track individual consumers’ transactions, which makes some merchants reluctant to use it.

Walmart Pay was unveiled in December, 2015, more than a year after Apple’s service debuted. The retailer resisted the lure of Apple in favour of its own offering — and it’s paid off.

Months after Walmart Pay’s debut, the retailer held discussions with Apple about incorporating Apple Pay into the app, according to people familiar with the matter. The talks continued until March of 2016, ending without a deal due to the difficulty of blending the technology underpinning each company’s approach, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified as the discussions were private.

“As the world’s largest retailer, you can imagine that we have conversations with a variety of companies about products and services that we think would be of interest to our customers, and Apple, as big of a company as they are, is one of those companies,” Wal-Mart said.

Both companies are pursuing a US$ 49- billion market for mobile payments that’s been slow to develop in the U. S. Many consumers still worry about mobile payments’ security, and find that using a plastic card is often as fast and easy as pulling out their phone to pay. Like many retailers, Wal- Mart still doesn’t accept the wirel ess payment technology built in to mobile phones, stymieing Apple’s efforts. Instead, Walmart Pay scans a code on the phone to complete a transaction.

Wal-Mart has been able to train its staff and customers to use Walmart Pay. It’s promoted the service consistently in stores and online. Unlike Apple Pay, which only works with Apple’s devices, Walmart Pay works with both iOS and Android phones — a feature that hastened adoption.

“They flawlessly deployed the system, and it works,” Crone said. Walmart Pay also incorporates in- store offers, promotions, rewards and gift- card balances all in one place, he said.

Wal- Mart began narrowing Apple’s lead earlier this year. Some 5.1 per cent of Wal-Mart shoppers said they used Walmart Pay in June, compared with 5.5 per cent of iPhone users at stores that accept Apple Pay, according to Pymnts. com and Info-Scout. Walmart Pay’s rate of adoption is higher than Samsung Pay and Android Pay combined, the survey found.

I WOULD HAVE TO IMAGINE WE ARE GETTING PRETTY CLOSE.