Walmart continues to ramp up its financial services offerings, today announcing a new deal inked with payments platform PayNearMe that allows customers to pay rent, car payments and utility bills with cash at participating Walmart stores starting in August.  

Customers will use the PayNearMe app to display a scannable biller barcode on their smartphones to pay bills with cash in the store and get a receipt confirming payment. Payments are then transferred to the biller electronically, Laura Rummel, senior director of account management and retail partnerships at PayNearMe, told Bank Automation News.   

“Walmart has a very distinct vision for being a financial services destination for their customers, and we serve a lot of the same customers that they’re trying to target within that segment of business,” Rummel said. “Every retailer needs foot traffic right now,” she added. “So, this is another way to help get customers in the door — or if they’re already there, provide an additional service to them.”  

The new offering constitutes a significant change for Walmart customers, and eliminates the need to “stage” a billing transaction physically in the store by providing a bill or account number in order to set up the transaction, Rummel said. Walmart’s other bill-pay offerings are set up through CheckFreePay and MoneyGram. 

“That takes a lot of time and that’s expensive for Walmart,” said Rummel. “With us, the transaction’s already pre-staged. We’ve worked with the merchant to assign the account number and the customer information to that barcode, so the customer just walks up to the register in the money center or the customer service area, scans that barcode just like they scan any other product, and all of that information is already built into that barcode for us to send the transaction.”  

The retail giant’s in-store money centers provide prepaid debit cards, credit cards, money transfers and other cash services. Walmart and PayNearMe will charge transaction fees for the new offering that will be paid by the merchant or the consumer, Rummel told BAN.  Customers will pay up to $5.99 per transaction, depending on the type of payment they make. Walmart did not respond to a request for comment before press time today.

The Green Dot network, a payments solution, will process the transactions. In addition to the current partnership, Green Dot issues Walmart’s MoneyCard Mastercard and Visa Card through Green Dot Bank.

PayNearMe’s cash network already includes more than 31,000 retail locations, in addition to participating Walmart locations. Working with the Green Dot network, PayNearMe already processes cash payments at retail locations, including 7-Eleven, Family Dollar, among others, 

The new partnership is a smart move for Walmart and PayNearMe, given the retailer’s footprint and customer base, said Ron van Wezel, senior analyst for Aite Group, a research and advisory firm. Data indicates most Walmart shoppers earn $49,900 or less yearly, making them more likely to be unbanked. “Anywhere where there are people without accounts, you need to have a bridge between the cash and electronic world,” van Wezel told BAN. “Almost everyone has a smartphone — the coverage is there, and the tools are there.”  

PayNearMe plans to launch additional retailers in the Green Dot network. “This is only step one into our expansion of retail,” Rummel told BAN. “Our partnership with Green Dot is going to allow us to bring other retailers on board.” 

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