Kroger, the largest supermarket chain in the United States, has been a longtime Apple Pay holdout. According to several 9to5Mac tipsters, as well as other reports on social media, it looks like Kroger is finally changing its tune and beginning to roll out Apple Pay.
Kroger adds Apple Pay after *checks calendar* nine years
As of right now, Kroger has not acknowledged or confirmed its plans to support Apple Pay. With that being said, however, 9to5Mac has received multiple tips from readers who have spotted Apple Pay at their local Kroger store. Additionally, other shoppers have taken to Reddit to share their experience with Apple Pay at Kroger. The rollout was also spotted by Appleosophy earlier this week.
Kroger, along with Walmart, has been one of the largest retailers to resist adding support for Apple Pay. Instead, the company has tried to push its own “Kroger Pay” platform as an Apple Pay alternative. Kroger Pay, which is based on QR codes, has failed to gain widespread adoption among shoppers.
We’ve reached out to Kroger for additional comment on its plans to support Apple Pay. The rollout appears to be in its early stages, and many Kroger locations still don’t accept it as a payment method, including several locations visited by 9to5Mac staffers. Still, the number of reports from readers and on social media indicate that at least some stores now offer the feature.
Top comment by DHa
Funny thing is Smiths (a grocery chain owned by Kroger) supported Apple Pay in the very early days. In fact, the hardware they used back then has not changed. Before I owned an iPhone that supported Apple Pay I remember thinking that Smiths was likely where I would end up using it first. Then, a week or two before I got my first iPhone that supported Apple Pay they dropped support. To this day it has blown my mind that so many other places now accept it and they don't.
As pointed out by users on Reddit, other grocery chains owned by Kroger, including Fred Meyer, WFC, Ralph’s, and King Soopers, have also recently enabled Apple Pay support. Maybe, just maybe, Kroger finally adopting Apple Pay will prompt Walmart to cave in and also add support. That’s a big maybe, though.
Have you spotted Apple Pay at your local Kroger? If so, was it being advertised as a payment option? Let us know in the comments. We’ll update this story if we receive additional details from Kroger itself.
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