Walmart is rolling out contactless Tap to Pay checkout at stores across the United States this month, with Louisiana, Kansas, Nebraska and Oklahoma among the states beginning their rollout on September 14 as the retailer works toward full nationwide coverage by the end of the year.
Catching Up On Contactless
The feature, which began rolling out at select Walmart and Sam's Club locations on August 24, allows shoppers to pay using an eligible contactless credit or debit card, smartphone or smartwatch, including popular digital wallets like Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay and Garmin Pay. The move makes Walmart one of the last major US retailers to adopt tap-to-pay technology, years after competitors widely embraced the format.
How It Fits Into Existing Options
Tap to Pay will be offered alongside Walmart's existing payment methods, including cash, traditional card swipe or insert, and Walmart Pay, the company's in-app payment tool that also lets customers view purchases, access receipts and use Walmart+ fuel savings. Customers and Sam's Club members will also be able to add eligible Walmart, Sam's Club and OnePay cards directly to their digital wallets for use with the new contactless terminals.
What's Not Changing Yet
Digital wallets cannot currently be used within Sam's Club's Scan & Go feature, which lets members scan and pay for items without a traditional checkout line, meaning shoppers using tap-to-pay will still need to use a standard payment terminal. Contactless EBT remains limited to select areas for now, and Walmart says the new option is additive rather than a replacement for any current payment method.
What's Next
Walmart plans to complete the tap-to-pay rollout across all US stores and Sam's Club locations by the end of 2026, with contactless payment coming to its fuel stations by mid-2027. Shoppers can check whether tap-to-pay has arrived at their local store by looking for the contactless payment symbol at the checkout terminal.