Walmart will soon allow direct pay for customers shopping online

BENTONVILLE, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — Walmart says it will soon allow customers shopping online to pay directly from their bank accounts for an instant transaction.

A spokesperson for the retail giant said this is an extension of Walmart’s Pay by Bank solution the company launched earlier this year which lets customers link their bank account to their Walmart Wallet to pay for orders.

Before Walmart Pay, the transactions resembled digital checks and took around three days to “settle” when processed through the Automated Clearing House, according to Consumer Affairs .

“We’re proud to offer our customers greater choice in how to pay – and pleased to bring the option of real-time payments forward in retail,” the spokesperson said. “We expect this new option for real-time consumer payments will further help provide shoppers with even greater choice in paying online.”

An advantage of the direct pay option is consumers can avoid seeing stacked pending transactions on their debit cards.

Jamie Henry, vice president of emerging payments at Walmart, said to Consumer Affairs that customers carrying low balances could be at risk of insufficient funds or overdraft fees from their bank.

“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 said. “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.”

ConsumerAffairs reports that customers will be able to pay directly starting in 2025.

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