Only a Year After Admitting Credit Cards, Aldi Says It Will Accept Contactless Payments

The Aldi Inc. supermarket chain, which only last year began accepting credit cards, said in a press release on Thursday it now “accepts all forms of contactless payment,” including Apple Inc.’s Apple Pay and Alphabet Inc.’s Android Pay mobile wallets.

The Batavia, Ill.-based company has already activated contactless payments chainwide, a spokeswoman tells Digital Transactions News by email. “Customers can start using it right away,” she says. Founded in 1976, Aldi operates nearly 1,700 stores in 35 states.

Aldi’s embrace of mobile wallets comes after years of operating as a largely cash-based business. Indeed, before its decision in March 2016 to start taking credit cards, debit cards were the only plastic it accepted in its spartan stores, which are known for relatively low footprints and low prices.

Aldi is clearly counting on contactless capability to speed up what is already known as a swift checkout in its stores. “We have some of the fastest cashiers in the business, and our checkout process is now even faster” with the addition of contactless technology, says the spokeswoman.

“We’re continually innovating to provide our customers a faster, more efficient shopping experience that saves them time and money,” said Jason Hart, Aldi’s chief executive, in a statement. “Contactless payment makes shopping at Aldi that much faster and more convenient.”

Both Apple Pay and Android Pay rely on a radio technology called near-field communication, which establishes a link at checkout between the customer’s mobile phone and the point of sale. Both wallets allow users to store virtual versions of bank cards, as well as other tokens.

Contactless capability would also allow Aldi to accept so-called dual-interface EMV cards, which come equipped with a chip as well as an antenna. Such cards, however, are more expensive to produce than chip-only cards and so far have not been issued in significant quantities in the United States.

The U.S. operation is a unit of Germany’s Aldi Sud and a corporate cousin of another grocery chain called Trader Joe’s.