Walmart announced on Friday that it will begin accepting Apple Pay and Google Pay at its stores, marking a major shift in its payment strategy. Starting August 24, the retailer will introduce Tap to Pay at select Walmart and Sam's Club locations, with a full rollout expected by the end of 2025. Fuel stations will follow by mid-2027. This decision ends years of resistance from Walmart, which had aggressively promoted its own payment systems like Walmart Pay and Scan-and-Go. The company previously partnered with other retailers to develop CurrentC, a failed alternative to Apple Pay that was shut down in 2016. Despite customer pleas, Walmart held out as Apple Pay became accepted at 85% of U.S. retailers. The company now frames the move as expanding customer choice, stating that Tap to Pay "is a great addition to the other payment options already offered." The shift represents a significant concession for the world's largest retailer, which had believed it could steer customers away from competing payment technologies.