Since Walmart sells everything from toothpaste to groceries to clothing, many American families spend a large portion of their monthly budget at the big-box store. Naturally, this makes how they pay at Walmart just as important as how much they're paying—which is why the retailer announced that they're introducing instant bank payments for online purchases. The move is seemingly a win-win for the corporation (it'll alleviate those credit card transaction fees) and the consumer (payments will be made in real time as opposed to sitting as "pending" for up to a few days).
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For quite some time, Walmart shoppers have been frustrated that the store doesn't accept Apple Pay. Instead, customers can use Walmart Pay, which is accessed via the Walmart app. In June, the company introduced a pay-by-bank option to Walmart Pay in partnership with the Automated Clearing House (ACH), in which shoppers could link their bank accounts with the app. However, transactions completed with ACH take one to three days to clear, notes Payments Dive.
However, despite this lag in processing, the company was pleasantly surprised with how the pay-by-bank option was received. "It’s certainly surpassed our expectations of the amount of customers that have registered and actually use the payment type," Henry said, via the Portland Press Herald.
To make the service even more shopper-friendly, Walmart is now partnering with Fiserv, a global fintech and payments company that offers a real-time transaction technology.
“When the transaction processes as a real-time payment, customers get immediate access to see that payment come through, I see it hit my account and I can properly budget,” Henry explained. “It’s not as if I’ve got this phantom payment out there that’s going to take place a couple of days down the road.”
The new payment option will be available for online orders and is expected to launch early next year.
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In-store shoppers also have the option to utilize Affirm’s Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) option at most Walmart self-checkout kiosks. This is available through the Walmart app and gives approved shoppers the choice to pay for a purchase over a certain number of months. According to Walmart, Affirm payments have no late or hidden fees, and some items and purchases will have 0% APR.
However, as Walmart explains, "For items that do not qualify for 0% APR financing, your APR rate will be between 10–36%, depending upon your credit. The exact terms you qualify for will be shown when you check out with Affirm."
