Walmart is trying another tack to eliminate lines at cash registers by testing Check Out With Me, an approach enabling store employees to accept payments in store aisles.
In the lawn and garden departments at more than 350 stores across the U.S., Walmart associates may complete customers’ purchases on the spot using a mobile device that scans items, accepts card payments and prints receipts, Walmart said in a blog post. Customers enrolled in Walmart Pay may opt to receive an electronic receipt.
A Wal-Mart Stores Inc. location stands in Brasilia, Brazil, on Friday, Jan. 15, 2016. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. plans to close 269 stores, including its experimental small-format Express outlets, in a push to streamline the chain that will affect 16,000 jobs. The effort includes the closing of 60 money-losing stores in Brazil, a country where Wal-Mart has struggled. Photographer: Lula Marques/Bloomberg
Lula Marques/Bloomberg
The process aims to save customers time, Walmart said in the blog post.
The move underscores Walmart’s determination to streamline store operations with new technology.
Walmart has recently expanded the number of stores that support Scan & Go, a tool developed for its Sam's Club subsidiary enabling shoppers to scan their own items as they roam store aisles. Walmart shoppers in Arkansas, Texas and Florida can now scan items with Walmart’s mobile app or one of the store’s hand-held scanners and pay at a kiosk with a credit card or Walmart Pay, eliminating the need to unload and reload a shopping cart.
Last year Walmart began testing the use of robots in 50 stores to manage inventory by checking the number and price of items on store shelves.
The Charlotte-based megabank announced that it had appointed two business leaders to be co-presidents of the bank, and elevated its chief financial officer to serve as executive vice president.
The Massachusetts bank is being accused of aiding and abetting the operation of a Ponzi scheme centered in Hamilton, New York. The bank declined to comment on the allegations.
City National Bank promotes Brandon Williams to head private banking and wealth management; a former U.S. Postal Service letter carrier is sentenced to five and a half years for stealing over $10 million in checks from the mail; Lazard expands its North American investment banking franchise with two managing director hires; and more in this week's banking news roundup.
The government-powered network is allowing larger payments to settle instantly, a move The Clearing House has also made for its RTP network. Payment experts say more than higher limits are needed to make speedy processing ubiquitous.
The world's largest stablecoin issuer is preparing to launch USAT, its U.S.-regulated, dollar-backed stablecoin, by the end of the year, Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino told reporters at an event in New York. Bo Hines was also named CEO of USAT.
