Texas' favorite grocery store has some good news for shoppers who have a habit of forgetting their wallets. H-E-B is starting a phased rollout for digital tap-to-pay services in all stores across Texas — but Austin shoppers may have to wait for it to arrive in their favorite stores.

The rollout started Monday, October 7, in San Antonio. A release says it'll take "about a week" to spread through that initial region, and a month to complete the rollout across all stores. It did not define when other regions or specific stores would join the program. The service will allow shoppers to pay with smartphone apps like Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, and Google Pay, instead of their physical cards.

It sounds like flagship stores are coming first, but all stores will eventually be included. That even includes Mi Tienda stores in Houston.

Payments can be made with those apps, or "digital wallets," at cash registers and self-checkout lanes, as well as restaurants and pharmacies within H-E-B stores. They won't be accepted right away at H-E-B fuel pumps, but customers can use them to pay for gas if they bring their phones to the fuel station payment window.

This isn't exactly cutting-edge technology; Google Wallet launched in 2011, leading the market, and was followed by Apple Pay in 2014. But it's not ubiquitous either. In 2023, a poll by Forbes Advisor found that barely more than half of respondents used digital wallets more than traditional forms of payment.

H-E-B is on a bit of a payment revolutionizing kick, also launching a debit card in 2022 and a partnership in August of 2024 with Austin-based delivery service Favor for its fastest order fulfillment yet. Central Market and Joe V’s Smart Shop, two other H-E-B brands, were also outfitted with tap-to-pay services, which rolled out across the state this summer.

“At H-E-B, we’re always exploring a broad range of technologies to enhance how customers shop and pay for products,” said H-E-B Group Vice President of Marketing and Payments Ashwin Nathan in the release. “This has been one of the most requested services we have received from our customers and partners, and we are excited to now make this popular technology available at all our H-E-B locations.”

More information about H-E-B is available at heb.com.