Walmart begins credit only at self checkout stands

[roadman65]

The Walmart by me now claims the coin shortage is causing them to not want to transact cash transactions at the self checkout stations. Yet they will do it at the cashier lines.  Makes me wonder what really is their motive to take such a measure.

Anyway are Walmart's in your area doing the same?

[hotdogPi]

If it's truly due to the coin shortage, they should accept exact change.

(note: if you're going to merge, merge the relevant posts in the other thread into this thread, not this thread into the other thread)

[SkyPesos]

Sort of frustrating that they're still not accepting Google/Apple pay.

[webny99]

If it's truly due to the coin shortage, they should accept exact change.

Yeah, the easiest way to overcome the coin shortage is to... accept coins from customers!

Personally I try to always reduce the number of coins than I'm going to get back, such as adding a penny when my total ends with .01 so I can get a dime back instead of a nickel and four pennies. Not everyone does this, however, so I can see how coins can bleed quickly at a place with a high volume of transactions.

[kalvado]

If it's truly due to the coin shortage, they should accept exact change.

(note: if you're going to merge, merge the relevant posts in the other thread into this thread, not this thread into the other thread)

And then you start a transaction and suddenly realize you're 5 cents short?...
It just easier to push those who has options into a different path. Totally eliminating cash may create legal issues, and certainly can cost WM some customers (remember - 6% population is without a bank account)

On a grand scheme of things, this may be intentional or unintentional coercing into reforms. Currently, nickel cost more as metal scrap than coin (such scrapping is actuallyt illegal, but yet), and pennies are crossing that line back and forth.  That is before costs of manufacturing and distribution are considered.
Looking a bit north, Canada no longer uses pennies, and I believe their 5-cents are cheaper alloy. same for $1 bills as those are too low value and change hands too often - so not lasting long. Loonies and toonies work just fine!  Maybe pennies and Saturday USPS delivery are not going to last...

[GaryV]

I believe the theory may be that people seldom put coins in at a self checkout.  They put in larger bills and get change back.

I don't know how the machines work.  If they are like vending machines, any coins coming in go into a hopper to be counted and deposited at a bank.  Any coins being used for change would need to be pre-loaded into the machines.

In a checkout lane with a clerk, coins coming in can be used as change in the next transactions, so the initial supply doesn't need to be as much.

[ethanhopkin14]

Yes, my closest Walmart converted to all self-checkout back in the summer.  Frankly it makes me mad. 

[abefroman329]

I don't know how the machines work.  If they are like vending machines, any coins coming in go into a hopper to be counted and deposited at a bank.  Any coins being used for change would need to be pre-loaded into the machines.

I can think of a few reasons why they wouldn't want the coins coming in to be immediately put back into circulation.

[hbelkins]

My recent experience with Walmart has been that most of the self-checkout lanes take both cash and plastic, and a minority are plastic-only. I think I estimated my personal experience at 65-35 in favor of both methods.

Personally I try to always reduce the number of coins than I'm going to get back, such as adding a penny when my total ends with .01 so I can get a dime back instead of a nickel and four pennies. Not everyone does this, however, so I can see how coins can bleed quickly at a place with a high volume of transactions.

I have seen this confuse the absolute bejeebers out of perplexed clerks, mostly at fast-food restaurants. Your order comes to $9.05 and you give them $10.05 so you'll get back one $1 bill instead of 95 cents in change. Or your total comes to $11 and you give them $21 so you'll get back a $10 bill.

So many people working retail and customer service have come to rely on the cash register to calculate the change to the point where they are unable to compute it in their heads. We've probably all either had this experience, or have heard about it -- or had to explain it to the clerk. "It cost $5.51 so I gave you $6.01, which means I should get two quarters back."

[Bruce]

It's been all-card at Walmart and a few other self-checkout-heavy stores here since April 2020. They should really be forced to accept contactless cards at these machines too, since the chip readers don't always work (especially when poorly maintained).

[oscar]

My recent experience with Walmart has been that most of the self-checkout lanes take both cash and plastic, and a minority are plastic-only. I think I estimated my personal experience at 65-35 in favor of both methods.

That's been my experience too. The plastic-only self-checkouts mainly (but not always) seem to be ones where the cash-handling parts of a particular checkout machine aren't working, or the newer and more compact machines which let Walmart squeeze more checkouts into the self-check area.

The self-check areas often don't have separate lanes for each machine. That means one cashier can watch over a dozen or more machines, to try to fix any problems that come up.

[hotdogPi]

The self-check areas often don't have separate lanes for each machine. That means one cashier can watch over a dozen or more machines, to try to fix any problems that come up.

My Stop & Shop location had 5 self-checkout locations. People needed help often enough that one employee could not fix 12 people's problems if there were 12.

[kalvado]

It's been all-card at Walmart and a few other self-checkout-heavy stores here since April 2020. They should really be forced to accept contactless cards at these machines too, since the chip readers don't always work (especially when poorly maintained).

I believe WM reluctance to accept contactless cards - and so not allowing phone payment apps, google/apple/samsung - is due to their desire to promote their own payment app. A few players tried that - Chase rolled out and quickly gave up on their thing, I believe Target tried their app, etc. I believe that few established players now have the market, and there is now room for niche players. WM may have a different opinion, though.
WM also didn't like chip-and-sign card verification technology common in US, especially given that signature is often waived - up to $100 by now, I believe? WM wanted more secure chip-and-pin, which is used in many other places, including Canada. But WM they couldn't bulge US market.

[jeffandnicole]

At the Philadelphia Eagles game on Sunday, they have gone cashless there too. The roaming beer vendors had a cellphone-type device for credit card payments. It was *much* slower than taking cash. That, combined with probably a reluctance of people to want to work anyway, resulted in only seeing the beer vendor once in our section for the entire game.

I also noticed the roaming beer vendor sold beers for $1 more than a concession stand; first time I've seen that. I'm not sure if it was a built-in tip for the roaming vendor or what the reason was. (It was an official price badge, not something the guy was making up).

[oscar]

The self-check areas often don't have separate lanes for each machine. That means one cashier can watch over a dozen or more machines, to try to fix any problems that come up.

My Stop & Shop location had 5 self-checkout locations. People needed help often enough that one employee could not fix 12 people's problems if there were 12.

Well, I said "try to" fix. Often, the only available fix is a "Lane Closed" message on the screen, or a cardboard "Lane Closed" sign on the scanner, or to disable the cash option or designate a machine "Card Only" if the only problem was with the coin/bill mechanisms.

[kalvado]

The self-check areas often don't have separate lanes for each machine. That means one cashier can watch over a dozen or more machines, to try to fix any problems that come up.

My Stop & Shop location had 5 self-checkout locations. People needed help often enough that one employee could not fix 12 people's problems if there were 12.

Well, I said "try to" fix. Often, the only available fix is a "Lane Closed" message on the screen, or a cardboard "Lane Closed" sign on the scanner, or to disable the cash option or designate a machine "Card Only" if the only problem was with the coin/bill mechanisms.

There are quite a few problems with the scanning process which require "administrative privileges" to resolve even when equipment is working fine. Item is not scanning or erroneously scanned twice are the most common, but there are quite a other issues which require employee intervention.

[SSOWorld]

Wal-mart has a narrow mind when it comes to coins running out - the computers start change distribution with quarters, if a register runs out of quarters, they switch to plastic only because the software's not set up to divvy up between dimes and nickels.

They will not ever accept anything contactless except their proprietary method.

[hbelkins]

They will not ever accept anything contactless except their proprietary method.

They used to pimp "Walmart Pay" which involved their phone app. Is it still a thing? I'm not using Apple Pay or any of those services.

What's the threshold for requiring a PIN anyway? I've had a number of purchases recently where the total was approved without my needing to enter my PIN. And I can never predict based on total price whether or not I'll need to punch in the number. A $40 purchase can be approved without a PIN, but a $20 purchase needs one. Sometimes I wonder if the system is able to match a card to frequent purchases and if it realizes that you've bought Sam's American Choice peach flavored water, cat food, and dog treats from that location before, the card use is most likely legit.

[jeffandnicole]

They will not ever accept anything contactless except their proprietary method.

They used to pimp "Walmart Pay" which involved their phone app. Is it still a thing? I'm not using Apple Pay or any of those services.

What's the threshold for requiring a PIN anyway? I've had a number of purchases recently where the total was approved without my needing to enter my PIN. And I can never predict based on total price whether or not I'll need to punch in the number. A $40 purchase can be approved without a PIN, but a $20 purchase needs one. Sometimes I wonder if the system is able to match a card to frequent purchases and if it realizes that you've bought Sam's American Choice peach flavored water, cat food, and dog treats from that location before, the card use is most likely legit.

It's generally up to the retailer, per agreement with their credit card vendor. Generally speaking, the higher the amount accepted without a PIN, the higher the risk, the higher the rate charged to the retailer.

[SSOWorld]

They will not ever accept anything contactless except their proprietary method.

They used to pimp "Walmart Pay" which involved their phone app. Is it still a thing? I'm not using Apple Pay or any of those services.

What's wrong with Apple Pay - what's different about it and Google Pay than what a retailer's pay app does?

Oh, it's big tech?  someone's worst enemy who snoops?  so does walmart! 😈

[thenetwork]

The Walmart by me now claims the coin shortage is causing them to not want to transact cash transactions at the self checkout stations. Yet they will do it at the cashier lines.  Makes me wonder what really is their motive to take such a measure.

Anyway are Walmart's in your area doing the same?

Meanwhile, on the flip side, I have been to some Kroger affiliates (City Market/Smith's) where it's the complete opposite when it comes to the so-called "coin shortage":

Manual/Staffed/Full Serve Checkouts:  Coin change is given back as a "next visit automatic coupon" attached to your Kroger (City Market/Smiths) value card.  Not sure how they handle those without Kroger Cards.

Self Serve Checkouts: Accepts cash and still dispenses all coin change as normal.

Go Figure...

[kalvado]

They will not ever accept anything contactless except their proprietary method.

They used to pimp "Walmart Pay" which involved their phone app. Is it still a thing? I'm not using Apple Pay or any of those services.

What's wrong with Apple Pay - what's different about it and Google Pay than what a retailer's pay app does?

Oh, it's big tech?  someone's worst enemy who snoops?  so does walmart! 😈

Everyone wants a slice of banking pie. Google actually going towards becoming a super bank - service provider for retail banks or something like that.
Looks like retail is not a gold mine any more.

[vdeane]

WM also didn't like chip-and-sign card verification technology common in US, especially given that signature is often waived - up to $100 by now, I believe? WM wanted more secure chip-and-pin, which is used in many other places, including Canada. But WM they couldn't bulge US market.

Nothing is stopping them from doing chip and PIN if they really want to.  My bank (First Niagara, prior to the merger with Key Bank) did.  My card had a PIN and everywhere except Target with chip readers asked for it.  Even after the merger, despite Key Bank being chip and sign, the initial card I got with the merger was no different.  My current card now defaults to chip and sign, but it still has a PIN, which I've used at the USPS kiosk to buy stamps and for pay at the pump at Sheetz.  I presume any Canadian terminals would ask for it too, but I haven't had the chance to see.

[kalvado]

WM also didn't like chip-and-sign card verification technology common in US, especially given that signature is often waived - up to $100 by now, I believe? WM wanted more secure chip-and-pin, which is used in many other places, including Canada. But WM they couldn't bulge US market.

Nothing is stopping them from doing chip and PIN if they really want to.  My bank (First Niagara, prior to the merger with Key Bank) did.  My card had a PIN and everywhere except Target with chip readers asked for it.  Even after the merger, despite Key Bank being chip and sign, the initial card I got with the merger was no different.  My current card now defaults to chip and sign, but it still has a PIN, which I've used at the USPS kiosk to buy stamps and for pay at the pump at Sheetz.  I presume any Canadian terminals would ask for it too, but I haven't had the chance to see.

Was it a debit card or a credit card?
Debit cards work with pins as ATMs don't have signature option anyway. I am not sure if the pin for my credit card is even setup.

[webny99]

I've never heard of a PIN for a credit card, only for a debit card. My debit card seems to be about 80/20 in favor of the chip reader asking for the PIN. It almost always does at the gas pump.