Walmart Joins Mobile Payment Game

America’s biggest retailer has announced it will be launching its own mobile payments service.

Walmart has revealed Walmart Pay, a new technology that will allow customers to pay for goods using their smartphones, both on Android and IOS.

The service will be introduced in select stores beginning this month, with a nationwide launch to be complete by the first half of next year.

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Walmart Pay uses the customer’s existing Walmart mobile app to scan a QR code displayed at the checkout. Once detected and scanned, payment is complete, with an e-receipt sent to the app.

The free service works with any major credit, debit, pre-paid or Walmart gift card, as Walmart looks to take advantage of the 22 million customers that use the Walmart app every day. The service could also be integrated with the likes of Apple Pay and Android Pay in the future, Walmart says.

The company says it is also in talks with mobile wallet developers, but did not specify who the companies were, although it has been working with a consortium of retailers to develop a mobile wallet, called CurrentC, which was beta-launched in August, in a bid to rival Apple Pay.

”The Walmart app was built to make shopping faster and easier,” said Neil Ashe, president and CEO of Walmart Global eCommerce. “Walmart Pay is the latest example – and a powerful addition – of how we are transforming the shopping experience by seamlessly connecting online, mobile and stores for the 140 million customers who shop with us weekly.”

Recent research by payments specialists Skrill found that digital wallets have enjoyed a major surge in popularity and are now used by more than half of all UK online shoppers whenever they purchase goods online.

Overall, 54 percent of UK consumers said they often or always used digital wallets such as PayPal, Google Wallet, or Square, to shop and pay.

All clued up on mobile payments? Try our quiz!