Walmart announced today the launch of ‘Walmart Pay’, which will enable shoppers to pay in-store from within the Walmart app. The rollout begins with just a few stores in Arkansas and will allow customers to pay by scanning a QR code at the register which will connect the transaction to your Walmart app account and enable the use of payment methods stored there, without the need to physically swipe any card.
It’s specifically mentioned that the new payment method will allow split-tender transactions and will permit the use of credit, debit, prepaid, and gift cards. You’ll also be able to pay partly through the app and partially without the app.
It remains to be seen if/how this will affect loading prepaid cards to Bluebird or Serve. It’s likely that PIN-based debit transactions will not work via the app and will need physical swiping; in that case, Walmart Pay won’t have any effect at all.
An entirely separate positive outcome of this may be the ability to buy Visa prepaid/gift cards with Amex gift cards. Some fussy cashiers don’t like this, and it may even be that the registers are coded not to allow credit card for certain prepaid products. If the system does allow it, this may be a way around the need to show a card to the cashier.
There can be other create things to test out when this new payment method rolls out as well.
Walmarts in Dallas, Texas won’t let you buy money orders using prepaid loaded gift/debit cards with PINs.This eliminates what used to be my method of manufactured spending. In fact, no place here will let you buy MOs with such cards.
I wonder if Walmart has abandoned their Current-C program which would debit your linked checking account, thus eliminating visa/mc fees for this method. Devil will be in the details for MS.
Nice . I hope Citi att card earns 3x points to buy visa gift cards if paid through the app.