After more than a decade of refusing to support one of the most requested payment features from its customers, Walmart is finally changing course.

Walmart officially announced on August 21, 2026, that Tap to Pay is coming to Walmart and Sam’s Club locations across the United States, opening the door for customers to use Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay and other contactless payment methods at checkout.

It marks a major reversal for the retail giant, which has spent years standing apart from much of the U.S. retail industry by declining to activate traditional NFC-based contactless payments in its stores.

For millions of Walmart shoppers, that means one of the most common complaints about shopping at the company is finally being addressed.

Customers will eventually be able to walk into Walmart, hold an iPhone, Android device, smartwatch or contactless card near the payment terminal and complete their purchase without opening the Walmart app or scanning a QR code.

And considering Apple Pay originally launched all the way back in 2014, Walmart’s decision has been more than a decade in the making.

Walmart Officially Announces Tap to Pay

Walmart confirmed the change in an August 21 announcement titled “More Ways to Pay: Tap to Pay Is Coming to Walmart and Sam’s Club.”

The company said it wants customers and Sam’s Club members to have more choice over how they complete purchases.

“We want customers and members to have choice in how they pay, so they can check out in the way that works best for them,” Walmart said.

The company announced that Tap to Pay would begin appearing at select Walmart and Sam’s Club locations starting August 24.

From there, Walmart plans to gradually expand the technology across its U.S. footprint.

The company’s stated goal is to have Tap to Pay available at all U.S. Walmart stores and Sam’s Club locations by the end of 2026.

Fuel stations are scheduled to receive support later, with Walmart targeting the middle of 2027.

Yes, That Means Apple Pay

Walmart’s announcement uses the broader term “Tap to Pay,” but the new system includes the digital wallets customers have spent years asking Walmart to accept.

Walmart’s own Tap to Pay FAQ specifically identifies Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay and Garmin Pay among supported digital wallets.

Customers will also be able to use supported contactless credit and debit cards.

Compatible smartwatches and other payment-enabled wearable devices will work as well.

The result is a much more conventional checkout experience.

Instead of Walmart operating as one of the major exceptions to contactless payments, its checkout terminals will increasingly work the way customers have become accustomed to paying at other major retailers.

A Huge Change After Years of Resistance

The significance of the announcement goes beyond simply adding another payment button.

Walmart has been one of America's most prominent Apple Pay holdouts.

Apple launched Apple Pay in 2014.

Over the following decade, contactless payments gradually spread across restaurants, gas stations, pharmacies, grocery stores and major retail chains.

Walmart continued holding out.

The company instead invested heavily in its own digital-payment ecosystem.

That included Walmart Pay, which allows customers to store payment information inside the Walmart app and scan a QR code displayed at checkout.

It accomplishes a similar goal—allowing someone to pay using their phone—but operates differently from Apple Pay and other NFC-based wallets.

Customers wanting to use Apple Pay couldn't simply tap their iPhone or Apple Watch against the Walmart payment terminal.

They had to use Walmart's system instead.

That distinction became increasingly noticeable as Tap to Pay became commonplace virtually everywhere else.

Walmart Pay Isn't Going Away

Walmart isn't abandoning Walmart Pay as part of the change.

Instead, Tap to Pay is being added alongside the company's existing payment options.

Customers who prefer Walmart Pay can continue using it.

Traditional credit and debit cards remain available.

Cash remains available.

Sam's Club members can continue using Scan & Go.

Tap to Pay simply adds another option.

That is a major difference from Walmart's previous approach.

Customers will no longer necessarily have to adopt Walmart's preferred digital payment method simply because they're shopping at Walmart.

They can use whichever supported method is most convenient for them.

Walmart Spent Years Betting on Its Own System

Walmart's reluctance to support Apple Pay wasn't simply a technological oversight.

It was part of a deliberate payment strategy.

When Apple Pay arrived in 2014, Walmart was involved with a group of major retailers attempting to develop an alternative mobile-payment system called CurrentC.

The initiative was backed by Merchant Customer Exchange, commonly known as MCX.

The idea was to create a retailer-controlled alternative to emerging digital wallets such as Apple Pay.

CurrentC ultimately failed to gain widespread adoption and was discontinued.

Walmart continued developing its own solution.

Walmart Pay launched and became deeply integrated into the Walmart app.

Customers could scan a QR code at checkout, charge the purchase to a stored payment method and keep digital receipts connected to their Walmart account.

For years, Walmart defended that approach.

But the broader retail industry increasingly moved toward NFC contactless payments.

Other Major Holdouts Eventually Changed Course

Walmart wasn't always alone.

Several large U.S. retailers resisted Apple Pay and NFC payments for years.

But gradually, those companies began changing their policies.

Kroger eventually expanded Apple Pay support.

Home Depot added contactless payment support.

Lowe's adopted Apple Pay.

H-E-B also moved toward contactless payments.

One by one, many of the major holdouts disappeared.

That increasingly left Walmart as one of the most noticeable exceptions.

A customer could tap their phone at countless stores, restaurants and businesses and then arrive at Walmart and discover that the same payment method wasn't accepted.

That experience generated years of customer complaints.

Why Customers Wanted Apple Pay

Convenience is one of the biggest reasons.

Using Apple Pay can be as simple as authenticating a payment on an iPhone or Apple Watch and holding the device near a payment terminal.

Google Pay and Samsung Pay offer similar contactless experiences on supported devices.

There's no need to remove a physical credit card from a wallet.

There's no need to insert the card into a chip reader.

And unlike Walmart Pay, customers don't have to open a retailer-specific app and scan a QR code.

For someone already using a digital wallet throughout the day, Walmart's previous system represented an extra step.

Contactless Cards Will Work Too

The announcement isn't exclusively about smartphones.

Customers with contactless-enabled physical credit or debit cards will also be able to tap their cards against supported Walmart terminals.

That means someone doesn't need an iPhone, Android phone or smartwatch to benefit from the upgrade.

If the card contains contactless functionality, it can be used through the new system.

That makes the announcement broader than simply “Walmart is getting Apple Pay.”

Walmart is effectively modernizing its payment terminals around the broader contactless-payment standard.

Smartwatches and Wearables Are Included

Wearable payments are also supported.

Someone using an Apple Watch, compatible Wear OS watch or another supported payment-enabled device can eventually complete purchases by tapping the wearable at checkout.

This has become increasingly popular because the customer doesn't necessarily need to reach for a phone or wallet at all.

The payment credentials are already stored on the wearable.

Authenticate the transaction.

Tap.

Pay.

Leave.

For a company built around high-volume retail transactions, shaving even small amounts of friction from checkout can make a noticeable difference.

Walmart and Sam’s Club Cards Can Join Digital Wallets

Another important part of the announcement is that eligible Walmart, Sam’s Club and OnePay cards can be added to compatible digital wallets.

That means customers aren't necessarily forced to choose between using Walmart-related financial products and using their preferred mobile wallet.

The two systems can work together.

A customer can potentially keep an eligible Walmart-related card inside a digital wallet and use that card through Tap to Pay.

It represents a significant change in how Walmart approaches the relationship between its own financial products and third-party digital wallets.

Sam’s Club Is Included

The announcement also extends beyond Walmart stores.

Sam's Club locations are included in the contactless-payment expansion.

Sam's Club already has one of the more aggressive mobile-checkout systems in American retail through Scan & Go.

Members can scan merchandise while shopping, pay through the Sam's Club app and leave without going through a traditional checkout lane.

Tap to Pay isn't replacing that system.

Instead, customers who choose to use traditional checkout lanes will have an additional payment option.

Walmart's FAQ confirms that Scan & Go will continue operating normally.

Why Walmart Is Making the Change Now

Walmart's public explanation centers around customer choice and convenience.

The company says the goal is to allow shoppers to complete transactions using whichever supported payment method works best for them.

That explanation makes sense within the larger transformation of consumer payments.

Smartphones have become digital wallets.

Smartwatches can make purchases.

Physical cards increasingly contain contactless chips.

And shoppers have become accustomed to seeing the familiar contactless symbol on payment terminals.

Walmart's resistance made the retailer increasingly unusual.

Eventually, maintaining that resistance arguably became less convenient than simply supporting the technology customers were already using everywhere else.

The Announcement Is Bigger Than It Sounds

Adding Tap to Pay may sound like a small technical upgrade.

For Walmart, it isn't.

Walmart operates thousands of stores across the United States and serves enormous numbers of customers every week.

Changing payment infrastructure across a retail network that large requires hardware compatibility, software changes, payment-processing integration, employee training and security testing.

That's one reason Walmart isn't activating the feature everywhere simultaneously.

The company announced a phased deployment beginning with select locations.

The important part of the August 21 announcement is the commitment:

Walmart has officially decided to embrace contactless payments.

A Decade-Long Holdout Is Ending

Perhaps the most interesting part of Walmart's announcement is simply how long customers have waited.

Apple Pay debuted in October 2014.

Walmart resisted.

Contactless credit cards became increasingly common.

Walmart resisted.

Competitors began enabling NFC terminals.

Walmart continued promoting Walmart Pay.

More major retailers changed course.

Walmart still held out.

Now, more than a decade after Apple introduced Apple Pay, Walmart has finally decided to join the broader contactless-payment ecosystem.

That's what makes this more than a routine checkout upgrade.

It represents the end of a long-running retail technology battle.

Walmart Pay Survives—But Customers Finally Get the Choice

Walmart isn't admitting that Walmart Pay failed.

It isn't shutting the system down.

And customers who enjoy Walmart Pay can continue using it.

Instead, the company is moving toward a strategy where its proprietary system exists alongside the payment methods consumers already use.

That may ultimately be the most important change.

Previously, shopping at Walmart meant accepting Walmart's approach to mobile payments.

Going forward, customers increasingly get to choose.

Walmart Pay.

Apple Pay.

Google Pay.

Samsung Pay.

Compatible wearables.

Contactless credit and debit cards.

Traditional cards.

Cash.

The retailer that spent years resisting the tap-to-pay revolution has finally decided that more payment options are better than forcing shoppers into a single ecosystem.

One of Walmart Shoppers' Longest-Running Complaints Is Finally Being Addressed

For years, “Why doesn't Walmart take Apple Pay?” became one of those questions customers repeatedly asked online.

The answer used to involve Walmart Pay, proprietary payment systems and the company's broader financial strategy.

Now the answer is considerably simpler.

It's coming.

Walmart's August 21 announcement officially ends the uncertainty surrounding whether the company would ever embrace Apple Pay and other mainstream contactless wallets in the United States.

The rollout itself will happen in stages.

Some customers will receive access before others.

Fuel stations will take longer.

But the larger decision has already been made.

After more than a decade of saying no to one of the most widely requested checkout features in modern retail, Walmart is finally saying yes to Tap to Pay.