Walmart pays launches
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Walmart's mobile wallet, the appropriately-named Walmart Pay, has debuted for iOS and Android users in Texas and Arkansas.
This means that Walmart Pay, which the retail giant announced in December, is now available to customers in almost 600 Walmart stores. The company plans to expand the service nationwide by the end of June, reports Venture Beat.
Walmart Pay lives inside the Walmart app and lets users create or log into their Walmart.com account, attach a credit or debit card to the app, and then pay in-store by scanning a QR code.
The mobile wallet has tremendous potential for widespread adoption because of Walmart's user base. The company boasts 140 million customers in stores each week, and the mobile app had 22 million users at the end of 2015. Walmart Pay should give active app users and curious in-store shoppers a reason to test the mobile wallet.
Furthermore, the company designed Walmart Pay to reduce friction at checkout with the QR code, but it also lets users pick up online orders in store, refill prescriptions, obtain store receipts, and more.
At some point, Walmart customers will be able to use Walmart Pay at any Walmart store in the U.S. This universal acceptance could provide a huge advantage over Apple Pay and Android Pay, which have suffered from slow adoption because of uncertainty about what merchants accept the mobile wallets.
This acceptance could encourage Walmart customers to pay with the mobile wallet and form a habit of using it with each purchase.
The mobile payments space is filling up with offerings from Apple, Google, Samsung, Walmart, and more. And the future of this technology is rapidly evolving.
John Heggestuen, managing research analyst for BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, has compiled a detailed report on mobile payments that analyzes how this landscape will transform in the next few years.
Walmart pays launches
Here are some of the key takeaways from the report:
- In our latest US in-store mobile payments forecast, we find that mobile payment volume will reach $37 billion this year. This is about half our previous estimate for 2015. The downward revision is primarily the result of later-than-expected launches of major mobile wallets from big tech players.
- But by the end of the forecast period in 2019, we expect volume to reach $808 billion, or about 99% of the old estimate. Our forecast is still one of the largest in the industry, and we think mobile payments will catch on faster than other research firms suggest: Mobile payment capability is either already offered or about to be implemented at merchants accounting for a huge chunk of US payment volume.
- The number of people who make a mobile payment at least once a year will grow from nearly 8% of the US consumer population in 2014 to 65% by 2019. The growth in mobile payment users will largely be driven by mobile wallet initiatives from Apple, Samsung, and Google. When these are in place, 90% of the forthcoming smartphones in the US will come with mobile wallets preinstalled.
- Samsung Pay will be a huge driver of mobile payment volume. Unlike Apple Pay, Samsung Pay is compatible at virtually every payment terminal in the US, thanks to the company's acquisition of LoopPay. This will make it easier for early adopters to make a habit of paying with their phone.
- The sheer number of mobile wallets available or in the works from Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, CurrentC, Google Wallet, and others will drive mobile payment adoption as well. This will largely be the result of competitive pressure building between the companies and the bandwagon effect. Adoption will be self-reinforcing — the more consumers and retailers that use or offer mobile in-store payments, the more the behavior will catch on among others.
In full, the report:
- Forecasts US mobile payment volume and user base from 2014-2019.
- Provides an in-depth explanation of the assumptions and data behind the forecast.
- Analyses the asymmetric objectives of the key players in the mobile wallet space.
- Provides an update on the mobile payments industry including analysis of Samsung Pay, Google Wallet, and PayPal.
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The choice is yours. But however you decide to acquire this report, you’ve given yourself a powerful advantage in your understanding of how mobile payments are rapidly evolving.
