American retail giant Walmart announced a significant change in payment methods by officially introducing contactless payments (Tap to Pay), allowing customers to make payments by tapping credit cards, phones, or smartwatches.
On August 21st, Walmart announced that starting from August 24th, some Walmart stores and Sam’s Club warehouses in the United States will begin offering contactless payment services. The company plans to expand this service to all Walmart stores and Sam’s Club warehouses in the US by the end of 2026, and expects to extend it to gas stations by mid-2027.
Walmart stated that this move is aimed at providing customers and members with more payment options and streamlining the checkout process.
According to Axios, the newly added contactless payment options by Walmart include Apple Pay and Google Pay. Customers can also add eligible Walmart, Sam’s Club, and OnePay payment cards to their digital wallets for making contactless payments using their phones or other supported devices.
Previously, Walmart mainly offered cash, physical credit cards, and its own Walmart Pay. Walmart Pay requires customers to scan a QR code at checkout using the Walmart app to complete the payment.
Therefore, the addition of mainstream digital wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay is seen as a significant shift in Walmart’s payment strategy.
In its official announcement, Walmart mentioned that Tap to Pay will complement existing payment methods rather than replace Walmart Pay. Sam’s Club members can still use Scan & Go to scan items during shopping and make direct payments without waiting in line at checkout.
Apart from reforming payment methods, Walmart has been continuously expanding its drone delivery services.
Walmart collaborates with Alphabet’s Wing and other drone delivery providers to deliver goods directly from stores to customers’ homes.
In May of this year, Walmart announced that its drone delivery service has completed over 1 million deliveries, covering 66 stores in 4 states and 5 metropolitan areas in the US. Walmart stated that the average drone delivery time is around 23 minutes, with the fastest delivery taking only 4 minutes and 44 seconds.
This indicates that drone delivery has evolved from an initial experimental project to become an integral part of Walmart’s rapid delivery network.
Walmart also continues to invest in physical stores. As of April 30, 2026, Walmart has a total of 5,215 retail locations in the US, including 3,569 supercenters, 351 discount stores, 673 Neighborhood Markets, 21 small stores, and 601 Sam’s Clubs.
In the 2026 fiscal year, Walmart has opened 12 new stores and completed renovations for about 675 locations.
Walmart had previously announced a large-scale store renovation plan, aiming to renovate around 650 stores, showing that the company has not abandoned its physical retail network despite the rapid development of e-commerce and delivery services.
The introduction of Apple Pay, Google Pay, and other contactless payments is another significant adjustment by Walmart in its in-store experience. From payments to drone delivery to store renovations, Walmart is leveraging technology to shorten the entire process for consumers from shopping to payment and receipt of goods.