In 2026, nearly all major stores offer tap-to-pay options. Even vendors at farmers markets often allow shoppers to buy things with a contactless wave of their mobile phone.
There is one very notable exception to this trend: Walmart. The largest retailer in the country aside from Amazon still does not accept payments like Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay in U.S. stores, despite years of demand from shoppers.
The unshakeable policy decision from the retail giant has spurred a torrent of memes and complaints online.
“Walmart not taking Apple Pay just speaks volumes,” one user posted on X in January. “They are living in the early 2000s.”
“The amount of customers each day with full carts of groceries that end up walking out because we don’t have Apple Pay is really high,” another shopper posted on Reddit in April. “And half the stuff in the carts is cold stuff which gets thrown out.”
“Can’t they see that Gen Z don’t want to carry cards? Let alone cash,” the user added.
There is some truth to that. New research from the Federal Reserve Bank shows that shoppers under the age of 25 rarely use cash, building on prior findings that younger Americans strongly prefer to pay with their phones.
Why Walmart still doesn’t accept Apple Pay or Google Pay
Online, shoppers have speculated that Walmart simply doesn’t want to update the checkout stations at its over 4,600 U.S. locations to accommodate contactless payment options. (Walmart accepts Apple Pay and Google Pay in Canada.)
But experts say there’s likely another, more strategic reason: Walmart doesn’t want to cede control of U.S. shopper data to other payment providers.
Retail analysts told Business Insider that it makes more sense for Walmart to risk not offering Apple Pay or Google Pay so that it can steer customers toward its own payment methods — namely, the Walmart app and OnePay, the retailer’s latest fintech endeavor.
Both apps act as digital wallets that allow for contactless payments at Walmart stores in the U.S. A Walmart spokesperson hinted toward this when the blog MacRumors asked about Apple Pay in 2025.
“We do not accept [tap to pay] and instead have implemented convenient solutions,” the spokesperson said. “We have also invested in innovative technologies that go beyond payments, such as Scan & Go, which allow Sam’s Club and Walmart+ members to bypass the checkout altogether, providing a truly touchless shopping experience.”
Walmart declined to respond to several requests for comment from Money.
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