As an avid iPhone user and regular Kroger shopper, you may be wondering: does Kroger accept Apple Pay? With Apple‘s secure contactless payment system supported by a growing number of retailers, it would certainly be convenient to be able to tap your phone to check out at the grocery store.
However, Kroger is one of the few remaining holdouts among major retailers when it comes to Apple Pay. Despite the rising popularity of contactless payments, you can‘t use Apple Pay at Kroger—but that doesn‘t mean you‘re out of options for fast and easy checkout with your iPhone.
In this comprehensive guide, we‘ll cover everything you need to know about using mobile wallets and contactless payments at Kroger. From the reasons behind Kroger‘s resistance to Apple Pay to step-by-step instructions for paying with the Kroger app instead, you‘ll learn how to streamline your shopping experience without your physical credit card or cash.
How Apple Pay Works
First, let‘s discuss how Apple Pay actually works. Apple Pay is a mobile wallet and contactless payment system that allows you to make secure purchases with your iPhone or Apple Watch.
To use it, you first need to add your credit or debit card information to the Wallet app on your iPhone. You can then use Apple Pay wherever contactless payments are accepted—just hold your iPhone up to the payment reader with your finger on Touch ID or use Face ID to authenticate the purchase. The transaction is authorized with a one-time, dynamic security code rather than your actual credit card number.
Apple Pay transactions are more secure than swiping a physical credit card because your card details are never shared with the merchant. And they‘re faster and more convenient than inserting a chip card and waiting for it to process. With Apple Pay, you can leave your wallet at home and still make purchases with your iPhone.
Why Doesn‘t Kroger Accept Apple Pay?
Now for the bad news: even though Apple Pay is increasingly ubiquitous, you can‘t currently use it at Kroger stores. Kroger is the largest supermarket chain in the US by revenue, with nearly 2,800 stores across 35 states. But it‘s one of the few major national retailers that has held out on accepting Apple Pay and other third-party mobile wallets.
So what‘s behind this conspicuous Apple Pay gap at Kroger? The company has never explicitly stated why it doesn‘t take Apple Pay, but its public statements and actions provide some clues:
Back in 2019, a Kroger spokesperson told Business Insider that the company is "continually evaluating [its] technology solutions to ensure that [it] is providing the best experience for [its] customers." However, rather than adopting Apple Pay, Kroger has focused on promoting its own proprietary apps and payment solutions.
Kroger CEO Rodney McMullen shed more light on the company‘s strategy in a 2021 interview with CNBC. "For us, it‘s really making sure that we make it easy for the customer to be able to use [the Kroger app] and to be able to save and engage with us," he said. "We want to make sure we‘re driving the overall customer experience."
Reading between the lines, it seems Kroger is prioritizing its own branded apps and payment methods over third-party solutions for a few key reasons:
- Transaction fees: Apple Pay transactions are processed through the credit card networks, which charge interchange fees to merchants. While customers don‘t pay these fees directly, they can cut into already slim profit margins for grocery stores like Kroger. By promoting its own payment system, Kroger can avoid some of these added costs.
According to a report by IHL Group, the average supermarket chain pays around $99,000 per year in credit card fees per store. For a company of Kroger‘s size, that can add up to tens of millions in credit card processing costs annually. Minimizing those fees is a major priority.
- Competition with Amazon and Walmart: Kroger‘s biggest competitors in the grocery space, Amazon and Walmart, have also resisted accepting Apple Pay in favor of their own mobile payment options. Walmart Pay and Amazon One let these retail giants gather valuable customer data and keep users inside their own apps and ecosystems.
As the largest US grocer, Kroger is directly competing with Walmart and Amazon, which have made major moves into the grocery category. Walmart is now the largest grocer by number of stores, and Amazon‘s 2017 acquisition of Whole Foods has made it a formidable player in the space. By keeping customers in its own apps, Kroger is trying to fend off these deep-pocketed rivals and avoid losing marketshare.
- Customer data and loyalty: Speaking of data, mobile payment apps provide retailers with valuable insights into customer shopping habits and preferences. By encouraging the use of the Kroger app for payments, the company can better track what individual customers are buying, how often they shop, and which promotions they respond to.
This data can then be used to personalize offers, coupons, and rewards to drive loyalty and higher spending. If customers started using Apple Pay instead of Kroger Pay, Kroger would lose access to some of that precious first-party data.
Kroger‘s focus on personalization and data-driven loyalty programs is a core part of its strategy. Its loyalty program boasts over 60 million members, and the company uses that data to churn out individually targeted coupons and offers at a massive scale.
So while Kroger may frame its reasoning in terms of creating the best customer experience, at the end of the day, it‘s also about maintaining control over customer relationships and data. As long as iPhone users are still willing to use the Kroger app for payments, the company has little incentive to cede that control to Apple.
How to Use Kroger Pay on Your iPhone
The good news for iPhone users is that Kroger does offer its own mobile payment solution called Kroger Pay. Kroger Pay is a QR code-based system that lives inside the Kroger app and allows for contactless checkout.
To use Kroger Pay, first download the latest version of the Kroger app from the App Store and create an account or sign in. Then follow these steps:
- Tap "More" at the bottom of the app screen
- Tap "Kroger Pay"
- Select your preferred payment method (you can add a credit/debit card or link your checking account)
- At checkout, open the Kroger app and tap "Kroger Pay"
- A QR code will appear on your screen. Scan this code using the reader at the payment terminal
- Follow any additional prompts on the card reader to complete the transaction
- Once the payment is processed, you‘ll get a confirmation in the app and can collect your receipt
One advantage of Kroger Pay is that it integrates with your Kroger loyalty account to automatically apply any earned fuel points or digital coupons to your purchase. You‘ll continue to accumulate rewards on Kroger Pay purchases just like you would when paying with a physical card.
Kroger Pay is now accepted at most Kroger stores, including at self-checkout lanes, pharmacy counters, and Kroger-owned retailers like Fred Meyer Jewelers and the Little Clinic. It cannot currently be used at Kroger Fuel Centers or to withdraw cash, though.
Other Contactless Payment Options at Kroger
In addition to Kroger Pay, there are a few other ways to check out touch-free at Kroger stores using your iPhone:
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Scan, Bag, Go: This feature within the Kroger app lets you scan and bag your own groceries as you shop, then pay in the app for a completely contactless self-checkout experience. You can currently use Scan, Bag, Go at over 30 Kroger-owned stores.
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SNAP/EBT: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits accessed via an Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) card can now be used through Kroger‘s mobile app in select states. You can pay with EBT on pickup and delivery orders or add your EBT card to your digital wallet in the Kroger app to pay in-store.
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Kroger Rewards debit card: If you have a Kroger Rewards checking account, you can get a debit card that earns bonus fuel points on Kroger purchases and doubles as your Shopper‘s Card. This card can be added to Kroger Pay for contactless checkout.
While none of these digital payment methods are as universally accepted as Apple Pay, they still allow Kroger shoppers to streamline their checkout and avoid swiping or inserting a physical card.
The State of Contactless Payments
The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically accelerated the adoption of contactless payments across retail categories, and that shift shows no sign of slowing down. According to Mastercard, 41% of US consumers say they plan to use contactless payments more than they did pre-pandemic.
Globally, contactless payment adoption is even further along. A 2021 report by Juniper Research projects that contactless transactions will exceed $10 trillion by 2027, up from $4.6 trillion in 2022.
And a study by Capgemini found that World Bank data from https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/contactless-payments-per-capita contactless payments are most prevalent in countries like Australia, Canada, and the UK:
| Country | Contactless Payments per Capita (2021) |
|---|---|
| Australia | 336.4 |
| Canada | 267.9 |
| UK | 220.6 |
| US | 125.9 |
While the US lags many other developed countries in contactless payment adoption, mobile wallet use is on the rise. According to research by eMarketer, mobile payment users are expected to surpass 125 million in the US by 2025, representing nearly half the population.
Apple Pay remains the most popular mobile wallet in the country, with 43.9 million users in 2021 per Insider Intelligence data. That‘s significantly more than its competitors:
| Mobile Wallet | US Users (millions) |
|---|---|
| Apple Pay | 43.9 |
| Starbucks App | 31.2 |
| Google Pay | 25.0 |
| Samsung Pay | 16.3 |
The growing ubiquity of contactless payments is putting more pressure on retailers to accept digital wallets and mobile payment methods. A survey by Blackhawk Network found that 63% of consumers say they are more likely to shop at a retailer if it accepts the digital payments they use.
Merchants seem to be getting the message. According to the National Retail Federation, 67% of retailers in the US now accept some form of no-touch payment, up from 40% in 2019. And many of the nation‘s largest retailers now take Apple Pay, including:
- Best Buy
- Costco
- CVS
- Meijer
- Target
- Walgreens
- Wegmans
- Whole Foods
Even some smaller regional grocery chains like Aldi, Food Lion, Publix, and Winn-Dixie are on board the Apple Pay train. And it‘s not just grocery stores—you can tap to pay with your iPhone at retailers ranging from apparel brands like Lululemon and Nike to gas stations like 7-Eleven and Wawa.
Will Kroger Ever Accept Apple Pay?
As contactless payment options become more ubiquitous, will Kroger change its stance on Apple Pay? Industry experts have mixed opinions.
On the one hand, consumer demand for contactless checkout solutions is growing, and many of Kroger‘s direct competitors already accept Apple Pay and other digital wallets. If shoppers come to expect Apple Pay as a payment option, Kroger risks losing customers to more mobile-friendly rivals.
Retail analyst Sucharita Kodali of Forrester predicts that Kroger will eventually be compelled to accept Apple Pay and other third-party wallets. "The more that consumers get used to using mobile payments, the more likely it is that Kroger will have to accept those mobile wallets or risk losing those customers to others that do," she told CNBC.
Other industry watchers aren‘t so sure. "Kroger has been one of the more reluctant adopters of mobile wallets," says Jaime Toplin, Senior Analyst at Insider Intelligence. "It‘s always going to prioritize solutions that let it maintain control over the customer relationship and data."
Toplin points out that Kroger has invested heavily in its own apps and technology infrastructure through initiatives like its "Restock Kroger" program. These investments are aimed at creating a holistic digital ecosystem that could negate the need for third-party wallets.
"As long as Kroger can provide a convenient enough checkout experience through its own apps, it doesn‘t necessarily need Apple Pay," Toplin contends. "It would rather keep customers in its own environment."
For now, it seems Kroger is content to promote Kroger Pay as its sole contactless payment method, betting that loyal customers will be willing to use the Kroger app rather than Apple‘s wallet. But as more retailers jump on the Apple Pay bandwagon, Kroger may reach a tipping point where holding out no longer makes sense.
After all, retail giants like Walmart, CVS, and 7-Eleven that once shunned Apple Pay have all eventually reversed course. Just last year, the grocery chain Aldi began accepting Apple Pay after years of resistance. So never say never—a change in Kroger‘s policy may be more a question of "when" than "if."
Conclusion
So does Kroger accept Apple Pay? As of 2023, the answer is still no. The nation‘s largest grocery chain has chosen to promote its own QR code-based mobile payment solution, Kroger Pay, rather than adopting Apple Pay or other third-party digital wallets.
Kroger‘s aversion to Apple Pay stems from a desire to control customer data, reduce transaction fees, and compete with the likes of Amazon and Walmart by keeping users in its own app ecosystem. But as contactless payments become the norm, Kroger may be forced to rethink this strategy.
For now, iPhone users can still enjoy many of the benefits of contactless checkout at Kroger using the Kroger Pay feature in the Kroger app. And options like Scan, Bag, Go and EBT payments provide even more opportunities for a streamlined, touch-free shopping experience.
But with Apple Pay accepted by a growing majority of major retailers, it may only be a matter of time before Kroger caves to the pressure. Consumer demand for convenient digital payment options is a powerful force—and one that even the biggest retailers won‘t be able to hold out against forever.
