Angry shoppers fear Home Depot and Walmart will "lose the battle" after becoming the last stores to stop accepting easy payment methods

Shopper frustration with two of the country’s largest chains is growing.

Despite increasing customer complaints, both Walmart and Home Depot refuse to introduce a common payment method.

Walmart is the largest retailer in the country that still does not accept Apple Pay, frustrating many shoppers who rely on the convenient payment methodPhoto credit: Getty

Home Depot also does not accept Apple Pay in stores or online despite customer complaintsPhoto credit: Getty

More and more shoppers are using Apple Pay for their everyday purchases and vowing to shop elsewhere if stores don't accept Apple Pay. — More and more shoppers are using Apple Pay for their everyday purchases and vowing to shop elsewhere if stores don’t accept Apple Pay.Photo credit: Getty

“If you don’t accept Apple Pay at this point, you don’t accept me,” Alexis D. Shelton wrote on Facebook.

Apple Pay was introduced a decade ago as an alternative to carrying cash and physical debit and credit cards.

“I don’t pull out my card for nothing,” she continued.

More and more shoppers are using an easier way to pay with their iPhone for their purchases across the country.

“With this in mind, Walmart and Home Depot are managing their businesses accordingly,” she added.

Neither Home Depot nor Walmart allow their customers to use Apple Pay to pay for their items in stores or online.

“Cash App is better,” commented one of Alexis’ followers.

“That’s wild,” she replied.

“You sound like you’re new to mobile money transfers. Aim higher,” she added.

“Girl you are a wreck lol,” wrote one of her followers alongside several crying, laughing emojis.

Apple Pay glitch: Users must expect unauthorized debits

“I’m serious when I shop online and I don’t have the option to double click. Ohhh, no. I don’t want it anymore,” she replied.

AN APPLE PAYS EVERY DAY…

According to Capital One, over 75 million consumers will use Apple Pay by 2030.

By 2024, over 90% of U.S. retailers will accept Apple Pay as a payment method, including:

Goal
Costco
Lowe’s
Dollar Tree
Dollar-General
Dollar Store
7-Eleven
Circle K.
Jewel-Osco
Meijer
Safeway
Piglet Wobble
Trader Joe’s
Whole foods
Winn-Dixie
Wegmans
Sprouts
Ulta Beauty
Sephora
IKEA
Best buy

Why doesn’t Walmart offer Apple Pay?

Walmart CEO Doug McMillon explained on Stratechery with Ben Thompson why stores don’t offer Apple Pay.

Although the use of Apple Pay is an ongoing topic of conversation at the retailer, McMillon stressed, “We want customers to constantly have our app open in the store.”

The app not only helps you find items in the store, but can also be used to pay for your purchases.

“That’s one of the reasons we want people to use our app,” he said.

Apple Pay is also the most popular digital wallet.

In 2023, the popular payment method will account for 3.5% of all in-store purchases and 14.2% of all online consumer payments.

Most stores, restaurants and chains that accept contactless payments also typically accept Apple Pay, making it a convenient and popular choice among customers.

However, there are some major holdouts that are angering customers who prefer to pay for their purchases at Home Depot and Walmart using the popular payment method.

“I bet they lose this fight”

“Walmart and Home Depot appear to be the last two major holdouts, trying everything they can to not accept Apple Pay,” Ryan York wrote on Facebook.

“I bet they will lose this battle sometime next year when they realize how much money they are losing to their competitors who accept Apple Pay,” he continued.

In 2022, Apple Pay processed a total of 6 trillion dollars in payments, resulting in revenue of $1.9 billion.

Yet neither Walmart nor Home Depot are giving in.

Walmart’s CEO recently revealed why the retailer is not offering Apple Pay to its customers, saying he hopes shoppers will use the Walmart app instead.

Home Depot has not publicly confirmed why it is not accepting Apple Pay as a payment method, instead pointing to the various ways shoppers can pay for their items.

This includes:

Checkout
Debit cards
Credit cards, including Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover
Home Depot Consumer Credit Card
Home Depot Commercial Credit Accounts
Gift Cards

CUSTOMER COMPLAINTS

On social media, shoppers continue to voice their concerns and criticize retailers for abrupt store closures, new safety measures and increasingly long wait times.

Many customers are becoming increasingly frustrated with Walmart’s new security policies, which include a mandatory check of receipts before customers are allowed to leave the store with their purchases.

Other shoppers criticize stores like Target for their long wait times.

The retail chain continues to crack down on theft by closing self-checkout kiosks, although it does not always have enough staff to man regular checkouts.