NFC TIMES Exclusive Insight – The announcement by The Kroger Co., the largest supermarket chain in the U.S., that it has begun trialing contactless payments in a subsidiary indicates that one of the last major holdouts among big U.S. merchants will eventually accept such NFC payments services as Apple Pay and Google Pay, as well as contactless bank cards.
Kroger suggested that it began the trial in its 61-store QFC chain in and around Seattle, Wash., in large part because of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has boosted demand for contactless and mobile payments over the past five months. Although there is a lack of medical evidence that cash or contact credit cards are responsible for transmitting the virus, the perceived threat that notes and coins in particular harbor the virus, is causing some merchants to finally move on contactless and mobile payments. Also, it's not clear why Kroger feels the need to trial contactless payments, which has been rolled out throughout the world.
If Kroger extends contactless acceptance to its entire 2,700-store chain, it would leave retail colossus Walmart and a couple of home improvement chains in the U.S., including The Home Depot, as the only retailers among the top 10 U.S. merchants not accepting contactless and NFC.
