Walmart Pay adds 14 states (AAPL, WMT)

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Walmart introduced Walmart Pay, its proprietary QR-code-based wallet, to 600 stores across 14 new states, including New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Idaho, Delaware, and states in New England and the Northwest. All iOS and Android users in these regions will be able to use the wallet, which is housed in Walmart’s app.

Walmart Pay has been sticky among consumers. Total customer numbers have not been revealed, but 80% of Walmart Pay users have been repeat customers, Walmart spokesperson Molly Blakeman told the Huffington Post.

Walmart Pay operates in a closed ecosystem, giving it ubiquity that could drive high adoption and loyalty.

• Users like retailer-centric wallets. A new study from Parks Associates found that 25% of US consumers pay with mobile wallets once a month, but that they prefer retailer-based options, like the Starbucks app, to general-purpose wallets like Apple Pay or Android Pay.
• That could be because customers know they can use these wallets where they shop. Walmart’s 20 million monthly app users will eventually be able to use the wallet at any Walmart location. That could directly counteract issues that have plagued general-purpose wallets — one of the top reasons that users don’t pay with mobile wallets for a given transaction is uncertainty if a particular store will accept it.

Mobile payments are becoming more popular, but they still face some high barriers, such as consumers’ continued loyalty to traditional payment methods and fragmented acceptance among merchants. But as loyalty programs are integrated and more consumers rely on their mobile wallets for other features like in-app payments, adoption and usage will surge over the next few years.

Evan Bakker, research analyst for BI Intelligence, Business Insider’s premium research service, has compiled a detailed report on mobile payments that forecasts the growth of in-store mobile payments in the U.S., analyzes the performance of major mobile wallets like Apple Pay, Android Pay, and Samsung Pay, and addresses the barriers holding mobile payments back as well as the benefits that will propel adoption.

Here are some key takeaways from the report:

• In our latest US in-store mobile payments forecast, we find that volume will reach $75 billion this year. We expect volume to pick up significantly by 2020, reaching $503 billion. This reflects a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 80% between 2015 and 2020.
• Consumer interest is the primary barrier to mobile payments adoption. Surveys indicate that the issue is less the mobile wallet itself and more that people remain loyal to traditional payment methods and show little enthusiasm for picking up new habits.
• Integrated loyalty programs and other add-on features will be key to mobile wallets taking off. Consumers are showing interest in wallets with integrated loyalty programs. Other potential add-ons, like in-app, in-browser, and P2P payments, will also start fueling adoption. This strategy has been proved successful in China with platforms like WeChat and Alipay.

In full, the report:

• Forecasts the growth of US in-store mobile payments volume and users through 2020.
• Measures mobile wallet user engagement by forecasting mobile payments’ share of their annual retail spending.
• Reviews the performance of major mobile wallets like Apple Pay and Samsung Pay.
• Addresses the key barriers that are preventing mobile in-store payments from taking off.
• Identifies the growth drivers that will ultimately carve a path for mainstream adoption.

To get your copy of this invaluable guide, choose one of these options:

1. Subscribe to an ALL-ACCESS Membership with BI Intelligence and gain immediate access to this report AND over 100 other expertly researched deep-dive reports, subscriptions to all of our daily newsletters, and much more. >> START A MEMBERSHIP
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The choice is yours. But however you decide to acquire this report, you’ve given yourself a powerful advantage in your understanding of how mobile payments are rapidly evolving.

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