Walmart shopper abandons cart and leaves checkout line over payment issue – he couldn’t even swipe his card

WALMART shoppers are slamming the retailer for refusing to allow a popular payment method in stores and online.

Despite increasing customer backlash, Walmart still won’t let shoppers use tap-to-pay to make their shopping trips more convenient.

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Customers nationwide have started to share their checkout woes on social media , revealing that they’ve abandoned their carts and taken their business elsewhere.

“Abandoned my cart at the checkout at @Walmart as my chip wouldn’t cooperate with the POS and the reader refused to take a swipe,” Adam Heeger, also known as @aheeger, shared on X.

While Walmart’s website does list debit and credit cards as acceptable methods of payment, some customers have noticed that there are still some caveats to the rule.

Walmart remains one of the last major retailers to hold out on allowing digital payment methods, like Apple Pay , Google Wallet , and Samsung Pay , at its stores nationwide.

In addition to banning digital wallets, the retail giant has also faced issues with its tap-to-pay options for physical debit and credit cards.

“Of course they don’t allow tapping which would have solved all of this,” Heeger added.

While Walmart’s payment terminals are set up to accept tap-to-pay, the retailer tends to allow customers to pay for their purchases only by inserting their card into a chip reader, or by swiping their cards in the terminal.

The only contactless payment method Walmart does accept is one tied directly to its app .

Walmart’s app allows shoppers to pay for their items using a contactless payment option called Walmart Pay.

Customers can add their credit, debit, or gift cards to the app, and then scan a QR code at checkout to pay.

Shoppers who want to use their credit or debit card’s contactless pay option, meanwhile, are left in the lurch.

Some customers, like Heeger, have even noticed ongoing payment issues at Walmart locations nationwide, with the retail giant failing to accept swiped or inserted debit and credit cards.

“You cannot tap your physical card on the machine nor your mobile wallet on your phone or smartwatch. Absolutely annoying,” one shopper fumed on Threads.

“While the hardware they use is technically capable of it, they have it disabled. You can’t tap a physical card either,” another shopper argued.

Why doesn't Walmart offer Apple Pay?

CEO of Walmart Doug McMillon has revealed why stores don't offer Apple Pay on Stratechery with Ben Thompson.

Though using Apple Pay at the retailer has been an ongoing conversation, McMillon emphasized that “We would like to have the customers open our app in the store all the time.”

The app can be used to help find items in the store, but it can also be used to pay for your purchases.

“That’s one of the things that we would like people to use our app for,” he said.

One shopper couldn’t believe that one of the nation’s largest retailers has refused to get with the times and allow more ways for customers to pay .

“I can’t tap to pay using my card at Walmart where I am,” one shopper wrote.

“I still have to insert it. Everywhere I shop except for Walmart and Home Depot has tap to pay…” they revealed.

“The GIRL SCOUT troops have tap to pay, my daughter with her little side business has tap to pay,” they continued.

“But the biggest stores in the US don’t? It’s ridiculous,” they added.

The U.S. Sun has reached out to Walmart for comment.

Walmart’s CEO, Doug McMillon, explained that one of the main reasons the retailer doesn’t allow external digital wallets is because it would prefer its customers to use the Walmart app.

“I think in our case, we would like to have the customers open our app in the store all the time,” McMillon revealed in an interview with Stratechery .

Walmart is unable to allow shoppers to use tap-to-pay on physical debit and credit cards without also having to allow digital tap-to-pay methods.

As for whether the chain will allow digital wallets in the future, conversations are reportedly “ongoing” according to McMillon.

“Yeah, maybe we will [allow digital payment methods like Apple Pay, Google Wallet, and Samsung Pay] at some point,” McMillon said, though he notably didn’t specify when those changes would occur.

What is Walmart's Scan and Go?

Walmart's Scan and Go was made to save time for shoppers

Walmart’s Scan and Go system was created to help customers scan items as they shop, pay, and leave without waiting in long checkout lines.

The retailer describes the new system to be done in a few easy steps:

• Customers first need to have the Walmart app downloaded on their phones with their location access enabled.
• On the Store Mode landing page, shoppers must click the Scan and Go option.
• Customers can scan each item and place them in their carts as they shop.
• At the end, they’ll be prompted to view the cart to make sure the quantity on the app matches the ones in their carts.
• Shoppers will press “Check Out” and head to a self-checkout kiosk.
• They’ll be prompted to scan the provided QR code at the register and confirm their payment method.
• Once the transaction is complete, shoppers can leave the store without worry.

WALLET WOES

Walmart shoppers continue to slam the retailer for its outdated payment policies , but the issue is only one of several major complaints.

Walmart shoppers have also started to criticize the retail giant for its enhanced security measures, which include locking items up behind plexiglass display cases .

Shoppers already venting about the chain’s long lines at checkout now have to call and wait for employees to come and unlock everyday essentials on their behalf.

Some customers have also slammed the retailer for its post-checkout process , which involves a Walmart employee cross-checking a customer’s receipt with their purchases before allowing them to leave a store.