Walmart Pay Expanding Payment Options

Reuters reported that Walmart is in talks with several mobile wallet companies to explore offering more payment options for its Walmart Pay app.

Chase Pay will be the first third-party digital wallet on Walmart’s website and app starting next year. Currently, customers can use any major debit, credit or Walmart gift card to pay within the app.

Mobile payments in the U.S. are projected to total $83 billion this year, up from $67 billion in 2015. But acceptance of digital wallet payments has been slow since most stores need to purchase new equipment to process them.

Daniel Eckert, senior vice president of services at Walmart U.S., told Reuters that 90 percent of transactions on the Walmart Pay app are completed by customers who use the service three to four times a month. Its most frequent users are older Gen-X customers — born 1965–1967 — and baby boomers.

Walmart Pay launched in Dec. 2015. It can be used in any Walmart store in the U.S.

Walmart also leads a group of retailers, including Target and Best Buy, in developing a mobile wallet app, CurrentC, meant to compete with major players. But the CurrentC project was delayed earlier this year.

Many other U.S. retailers have also launched their own digital wallets in the last two years.