BENTONVILLE, Ark. – Last week Walmart introduced Walmart Pay, allowing customers to purchase items with their smartphones at all of the company’s stores. 

Walmart says that it is the only retailer to offer its own payment solution that works with any iOS or Android device at any checkout lane and with any major credit, debit, pre-paid or Walmart gift card, all through the Walmart mobile app. The mobile payment feature will be introduced in select stores beginning this month, with a nationwide launch to be complete by the first half of next year.

“The Walmart app was built to make shopping faster and easier,” said Neil Ashe, president and CEO of Walmart Global eCommerce, in a press release. “Walmart Pay is the latest example of how we are transforming the shopping experience by seamlessly connecting online, mobile and stores for the 140 million customers who shop with us weekly.”

Twenty-two million customers actively use the Walmart app each month, and it ranks among the top three retail apps in the Google and Apple app stores. The Walmart app features include checking in to pick up an online order at a Walmart store, refilling pharmacy prescriptions and finding an item’s store location.

“We made a strategic decision to design Walmart Pay to work with almost any smartphone and accept almost any payment type, even allowing for the integration of other mobile wallets in the future,” said Daniel Eckert, senior vice president, services, Walmart U.S. “The result is an innovation that will make the ease of mobile payments a reality for millions of Americans.”