Ralphs now accepting contactless

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storewanderer
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Re: Ralphs now accepting contactless

Post by storewanderer »

babs wrote: November 9th, 2022, 9:45 am The challenge for some retailers is that if they offer returns without a receipt and offer the ability to lookup the receipt using a credit card, it's not possible due to the fact that the token technology used does not directly tie to a transaction. At Kroger, it's not an issue since you could look up the transaction using the loyalty card. However at Home Depot, they don't really have a consumer loyalty program so being able to lookup a transaction via a credit card is a nice customer friendly option that using contactless wouldn't allow for.
This is false. This was one of the excuses we were hearing a few years ago when Wal Mart and Kroger were refusing to accept Contactless payments but it is not true. I have done receipt look up for returns without a paper receipt (actually had the paper receipt, but wanted to try the tap option first so kept it concealed) via tap at Macys, Target, and Walgreens with no problem (without entering a loyalty card) for returns.

I am not sure how they are storing the data but somehow they still are. I thought that was supposed to go away with the increased security of the physical chip cards, but it did not.
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Re: Ralphs now accepting contactless

Post by mbz321 »

storewanderer wrote: November 8th, 2022, 10:07 pm

And Wal Mart of course but we know that is because they are pushing the Wal Mart pay thing (and paying higher card not present rates to process those payments; ego ego ego).
I was wondering what the deal was with Walmart...card readers are so old you can't even tap the card to pay. I can't even think of a standard retailer that doesn't have that option these days besides Walmart. Hell, even Goodwill has tap to pay terminals.
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Re: Ralphs now accepting contactless

Post by storewanderer »

mbz321 wrote: November 11th, 2022, 7:41 am
storewanderer wrote: November 8th, 2022, 10:07 pm

And Wal Mart of course but we know that is because they are pushing the Wal Mart pay thing (and paying higher card not present rates to process those payments; ego ego ego).
I was wondering what the deal was with Walmart...card readers are so old you can't even tap the card to pay. I can't even think of a standard retailer that doesn't have that option these days besides Walmart. Hell, even Goodwill has tap to pay terminals.
7-Eleven uses the same card readers as Wal Mart uses and they have Contactless. New 7-Eleven opened here recently and installed those same old readers (units appear to be new).

Some Carls Jr. use those card readers too and they also have Contactless.

Jersey Mikes used to use those card readers too (like 5 years ago) and they had Contactless too.

This is a Wal Mart issue. Wal Mart did enable Contactless in Canada, because the card networks put out a rule that all merchants must accept Contactless by a certain point in time (maybe it is 2024). I expect a similar rule in the US by about 2028.

Why merchants like Wal Mart, Kroger, Home Depot, and Lowes continue to draw this out is beyond me. Kroger could literally flip a switch and enable this at all stores overnight if they wanted to. When a Kroger register/pinpad reboots it actually has the Contactless activate (4 round dots at top of pinpad) then as it cycles through the Kroger software it DISABLES the Contactless. Kroger actually had to do a software patch/command to DISABLE Contactless on its pinpads because the stock Verifone pinpad software they use automatically activates Contactless when the device starts up. In the case of Kroger it is more work for them to keep Contactless disabled than it is to enable it since their software for pinpads and registers has Contactless by default. Every other store with the pinpad/register software combination Kroger uses is now accepting Contactless (Giant, Giant Eagle, Harmons, Costco, Winn Dixie, Homeland, various independents).

Lowes is much more complicated with a very old POS (updated system is just a new interface, same old DOS based backbone behind it), Wal Mart is being stubborn since they have it activated in other countries, and so is Home Depot.

Even US Postal Service finally enabled Contactless in the past month or so.

Then we have the Nevada DMV where they still swipe cards... but after you go there and wait 3 hours even when you schedule an appointment (appointment mandatory, no walk ins, and 30 day wait for appointment) you forget it is 2022 and assume you are still in 1995 when swipe cards were leading edge technology.
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Re: Ralphs now accepting contactless

Post by Alpha8472 »

I remember visiting Disneyland at the end of 2019 and they did not take chip cards at restaurants. It was swipe only. I thought that was backwards. Sometime later they started accepting tap to pay.

Perhaps it is because Walmart owns a bank that gives them a deal on card transactions through Walmart Pay.

Many young people these days carry no cards, cash, or ID. All they have to pay with is Apple Pay or Google Pay on their phones.

I have seen these people go to sit down restaurants and then later realize it is cash only...
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Re: Ralphs now accepting contactless

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Alpha8472 wrote: November 11th, 2022, 6:38 pm I remember visiting Disneyland at the end of 2019 and they did not take chip cards at restaurants. It was swipe only. I thought that was backwards. Sometime later they started accepting tap to pay.

Perhaps it is because Walmart owns a bank that gives them a deal on card transactions through Walmart Pay.

Many young people these days carry no cards, cash, or ID. All they have to pay with is Apple Pay or Google Pay on their phones.

I have seen these people go to sit down restaurants and then later realize it is cash only...
Disneyland was a little slow to get updated card readers. Disney World got updated card readers before Disneyland did.

Their initial card readers were custom for Disney and Mickey shaped and the tap area was part of Mickey, they were very neat. I think they have since switched to some kind of standard pinpad.
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Re: Ralphs now accepting contactless

Post by HCal »

Alpha8472 wrote: November 11th, 2022, 6:38 pm Perhaps it is because Walmart owns a bank that gives them a deal on card transactions through Walmart Pay.
Since when did Walmart own a bank? I can't find any information on this, do you know the bank's name?

I remember around a decade ago they were trying to set up a bank in Utah to process card payments, but they withdrew their application. If they tried again, they seem to have slipped under the radar.
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Re: Ralphs now accepting contactless

Post by Alpha8472 »

Arvest Bank is almost entirely owned by the Walton family. Jim Walton is the Chairman.
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