Apple Pay Holdout Kroger Launches New 'Kroger Pay' Service

Popular grocery store chain Kroger has launched a new mobile payments service called Kroger Pay, which it will be using in lieu of Apple Pay.

According to a WCPO, a local Cincinnati news site, Kroger Pay launched in Columbus and Colorado today, but will be expanding to all Kroger stores by the end of the year.

krogerpay
Kroger Pay is QR-based, so to pay, users need to open up the app and generate a single-use QR code that's scanned at checkout when making a purchase.

Kroger customers can link any major debit or credit card to the Kroger Pay app, and it also includes a Kroger Rewards debit card for earning fuel points and other rewards with purchases.

"Kroger Pay is one of the few mobile wallets that pairs loyalty and payment," said Mary Ellen Adcock, group vice president of operations. "The application of this exciting technology is another step in our front-end experience transformation."

With Kroger embracing its own payment solution, it looks like the grocery store chain has no plans to introduce support for ‌Apple Pay‌. Kroger did test support for ‌Apple Pay‌ in stores that support contactless payments, but reportedly discontinued the program "due to little interest by customers."

Kroger in 2018 told a Reddit user that it did not have plans to implement ‌Apple Pay‌ in any of its stores.

Kroger has been working on its payments service for more than two years, and has been accepting the Chase Pay digital wallet since 2017.

Related Roundup: Apple Pay

Popular Stories

iOS 26

Apple Seeds iOS 26.2 and iPadOS 26.2 Release Candidates to Developers and Public Beta Testers

Wednesday December 3, 2025 10:33 am PST by
Apple today seeded the release candidate versions of upcoming iOS 26.2 and iPadOS 26.2 updates to developers and public beta testers, with the software coming two weeks after Apple seeded the third betas. The release candidates represent the final versions of iOS 26.2 and iPadOS 26.2 that will be provided to the public if no further bugs are found during this final week of testing....
ios 18 to ios 26 upgrade

Apple Pushes iPhone Users Still on iOS 18 to Upgrade to iOS 26

Tuesday December 2, 2025 11:09 am PST by
Apple is encouraging iPhone users who are still running iOS 18 to upgrade to iOS 26 by making the iOS 26 software upgrade option more prominent. Since iOS 26 launched in September, it has been displayed as an optional upgrade at the bottom of the Software Update interface in the Settings app. iOS 18 has been the default operating system option, and users running iOS 18 have seen iOS 18...
iOS 26

15 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 26.2

Friday December 5, 2025 9:40 am PST by
Apple is about to release iOS 26.2, the second major point update for iPhones since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least 15 notable changes and improvements worth checking out. We've rounded them up below. Apple is expected to roll out iOS 26.2 to compatible devices sometime between December 8 and December 16. When the update drops, you can check Apple's servers for the ...
Photos App Icon Liquid Glass

John Gruber Shares Scathing Commentary About Apple's Departing Software Design Chief

Thursday December 4, 2025 9:30 am PST by
In a statement shared with Bloomberg on Wednesday, Apple confirmed that its software design chief Alan Dye will be leaving. Apple said Dye will be succeeded by Stephen Lemay, who has been a software designer at the company since 1999. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that Dye will lead a new creative studio within the company's AR/VR division Reality Labs. On his blog Daring Fireball,...
iOS 26

When Will Apple Release iOS 26.2?

Monday December 1, 2025 4:37 pm PST by
We're getting closer to the launch of the final major iOS update of the year, with Apple set to release iOS 26.2 in December. We've had three betas so far and are expecting a fourth beta or a release candidate this week, so a launch could follow as soon as next week. Past Launch Dates Apple's past iOS x.2 updates from the last few years have all happened right around the middle of the...
maxresdefault

iPhone Fold: Launch, Pricing, and What to Expect From Apple's Foldable

Monday December 1, 2025 3:00 am PST by
Apple is expected to launch a new foldable iPhone next year, based on multiple rumors and credible sources. The long-awaited device has been rumored for years now, but signs increasingly suggest that 2026 could indeed be the year that Apple releases its first foldable device. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Below, we've collated an updated set of key details that ...
iphone air camera

iPhone Air's Resale Value Has Dropped Dramatically, Data Shows

Thursday December 4, 2025 5:27 am PST by
The iPhone Air has recorded the steepest early resale value drop of any iPhone model in years, with new data showing that several configurations have lost almost 50% of their value within ten weeks of launch. According to a ten-week analysis published by SellCell, Apple's latest lineup is showing a pronounced split in resale performance between the iPhone 17 models and the iPhone Air....
iPhone 17 Pro Cosmic Orange

iPhone 17 Pro Lost a Camera Feature Pro Models Have Had Since 2020

Thursday December 4, 2025 5:18 am PST by
iPhone 17 Pro models, it turns out, can't take photos in Night mode when Portrait mode is selected in the Camera app – a capability that's been available on Apple's Pro devices since the iPhone 12 Pro in 2020. If you're an iPhone 17 Pro or iPhone 17 Pro Max owner, try it for yourself: Open the Camera app with Photo selected in the carousel, then cover the rear lenses with your hand to...
ive and altman

Jony Ive's OpenAI Device Barred From Using 'io' Name

Friday December 5, 2025 6:22 am PST by
A U.S. appeals court has upheld a temporary restraining order that prevents OpenAI and Jony Ive's new hardware venture from using the name "io" for products similar to those planned by AI audio startup iyO, Bloomberg Law reports. iyO sued OpenAI earlier this year after the latter announced its partnership with Ive's new firm, arguing that OpenAI's planned "io" branding was too close to its...
iphone 17 cyber

iPhone 17 Demand Is Breaking Apple's Sales Records

Tuesday December 2, 2025 9:44 am PST by
Apple's iPhone 17 lineup is selling well enough that Apple is on track to ship more than 247.4 million total iPhones in 2025, according to a new report from IDC. Total 2025 shipments are forecast to grow 6.1 percent year over year due to iPhone 17 demand and increased sales in China, a major market for Apple. Overall worldwide smartphone shipments across Android and iOS are forecast to...

Top Rated Comments

nibfiledotcom Avatar
89 months ago

Kroger in 2018 told a Reddit user ('https://www.reddit.com/r/ApplePay/comments/8cgu5t/kroger_and_apple_pay/') that it did not have plans to implement Apple Pay in any of its stores.
You don’t implement Apple Pay; Apple and the banks already implemented it. You simply allow Apple Pay to work, along with every other contactless payment method out there.

Starting in 2020, both Visa and MasterCard will require merchants accepting payments via their networks to support contactless payment at all Point-of-Sale terminals in almost every market in the United States. The fallout from that should be interesting, because there are still more than a few large-scale retailers like Kroger who insist on implementing their own payment schemes so they can continue to harvest your data.

For now, I’ll be shopping exclusively at Giant Eagle instead. This is exactly how Walgreens got my loyalty, too.
Score: 38 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Mikep976 Avatar
89 months ago
Going the wrong way there Kroger...

Also, if you saw “little interest from customers” with Apple Pay, why would you think they would want to pull out their phone, open the app, wait for it to load, click to open the QR Code, and then have it scan.... versus just tapping their iPhone or Watch? This just screams “we want your data how we want it, not the privacy focused Apple way.”
Score: 37 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Packdude Avatar
89 months ago
LOL, there was so 'little interest by customers' that they decided to spend 2 years working on their own app. Nice try Kroger.
Score: 34 Votes (Like | Disagree)
dannyyankou Avatar
89 months ago
"Kroger Pay is one of the few mobile wallets that pairs loyalty and payment,"

Um Apple Pay can do this too
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Trippy Bear Avatar
89 months ago
Another DOA pay system lol
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mattyj2001 Avatar
89 months ago
I'll give them another two years before they support Apple Pay, if not sooner if any type of data breach occurs due to their archaic QR based system.

Someone at Kroger should talk to someone at Target to find out why they suddenly are abandoning Target Wallet and starting to support all the major contactless payment systems ...
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)