How to use apple pay at mcdonalds

When you have a craving for a Big Mac and don’t have your wallet, it can be a serious disappointment.

By the time you get home and get your credit card, you will hopefully come to your senses and decide to buy something healthier.

If you have your card stored in your Apple Pay digital wallet on your smartphone, you will have the opportunity to pay with your card.

However, does McDonald’s take Apple Pay?

We will cover everything you need to know about using your digital wallet at McDonald’s.

Does McDonald’s Take Apple Pay?

Yes, McDonald’s takes Apple Pay and payments from all mobile wallets at all locations.

You can use Apply Pay at both the counter inside the store and the drive-thru.

McDonald’s has been taking digital payments since 2014, helping catapult digital payments into the mainstream.

You can use Apple Pay at most major fast-food chains, including McDonald’s.

Other fast-food chains that accept Apple Pay include:

• KFC
• Wendy’s
• Arby’s
• Burger King
• White Castle
• Baskin Robbins
• Taco Bell
• Subway
• Panera Bread

What Is Apple Pay?

Apple Pay is a mobile wallet.

A mobile or digital wallet is a place for you to store credit card information.

After you store your payment data, you can connect to an approved credit card terminal using short-range wireless communication by holding the smartphone near the terminal.

Apple Pay works using NFC (near field communication) technology.

This is the technology that allows the mobile wallet and the credit card terminal to work.

The terminal must have NFC compatibility.

Luckily, most POS systems offer this feature these days.

You can tell a terminal takes mobile payments if it says so on the terminal in words or a symbol of a triangular shape consisting of three arcing lines.

Once the phone transfers data to the credit card terminal, the terminal communicates with the customer’s financial institution to verify the availability of funds.

If they can verify the funds, the financial institution will take the money out of the customer’s account and put it into the merchant’s bank account.

While it may seem that only large companies like McDonald’s can afford credit card terminals that accept Apple Pay and other mobile wallets, you may be pleasantly surprised to learn that they are quite accessible for small businesses as well.

Other common mobile wallets include Samsung Pay and Google Pay.

However, there are several different mobile wallets for you to choose from, depending on your electronic manufacturer of choice.

Do not think that you must have an Apple device to enjoy the benefits of a mobile wallet.

If a credit card terminal accepts one type of mobile wallet, such as Apple Pay, it will accept all mobile wallets.

Are There Any Fees For Using Apple Pay At McDonald’s?

There are no fees associated with using Apple Pay at McDonald’s.

Generally speaking, no mobile wallets accrue fees.

Can I Get A Refund Through Apple Pay?

If your order didn’t go through as planned for some reason, and you expect a refund, you will be able to get a refund on your Apple Pay payment just like any other type of payment.

Unlike cash, you may not see the refunded money reflected in your account balance for a couple of days.

Also, you need to get McDonald’s to authorize the refund first.

They will only authorize payments for orders that they know that they messed up.

If you simply didn’t like the order, they may not agree to give you a refund.

If someone uses your digital wallet without your authorization, you will need to talk to your financial institution.

However, since someone needs to use your phone’s security measures to gain access to your mobile wallet, any fraud claims could be an uphill battle.

How To Use Apple Pay At McDonald’s

It’s rather easy to pay at McDonald’s using Apple Pay as long as you know what you’re doing.

1. Add Card To Apple Pay App

First and foremost, you will need to add your credit card to your mobile wallet.

To do this, you will open the application on your smartphone and follow the instructions.

You can add your card by entering the numbers manually or taking a picture.

After you enter the credit card information, you can use that card until it expires.

You can add multiple cards to your mobile wallet.

The card that you set as the primary card will be the first card used when you make NFC payments.

2. Open Apple Pay App At Store

Open the Apple Pay app when you arrive at the register.

To open the app, you will need to unlock your smartphone.

Most smartphones require owners to set up security measures, such as fingerprint identification, face recognition, or a passcode.

3. Bring Phone Close To Credit Card Terminal

After the cashier rings up all of your items, you will bring the phone close to the credit card terminal.

While some technologies work from as far away as four feet, you really want to keep your phone just a couple of inches away from the terminal.

4. Ensure Connection

You should see the credit card terminal accept your payment and move forward.

Usually, this is indicated by a green light and the payment processing.

5. Finalize Payment

If prompted by the credit card terminal, you may need to answer some questions or prove your identity with a signature or personal identification number, or PIN.

Keeping Your Mobile Wallet Secure

You need to keep your mobile wallet secure since most banks don’t refund mobile wallet payments since the user must go through multiple processes to complete the payment.

1. Limit People Who Have Access

The main reason people end up getting their mobile wallet hacked is that someone they trust used the mobile wallet behind their back.

In most of these cases, the hacked person freely provided the password to the person who hacked it.

2. Use Proper Phone Protection

You cannot use Apple Pay if you do not have protection on your phone.

You need to use this authorization method before you make a purchase using your mobile wallet to reduce the likelihood of someone finding your phone and making payments without your permission.

Benefits Of Using A Mobile Wallet

Why would anyone want to use a mobile wallet instead of simply using their credit card?

Here are some of the benefits of using Apple Pay or a mobile wallet.

1. Security

One of the great things about using your mobile wallet to complete a purchase is that the information transferred from the mobile wallet to the credit card terminal is not actually the credit card information but encrypted data with an individual code for each transaction.

Your credit card information remains safe, even if the merchant gets hacked.

2. Sanitation

We just went through a health pandemic.

Avoiding potential contact with any unhealthy elements is more important to people than ever these days.

In many cases, using your mobile wallet allows you to make completely contactless payments, so you won’t need to touch the credit card terminal used by all of the other customers (and containing their germs).

If you can’t make contactless payments, you can keep travel containers of hand sanitizer with you to ensure that you stay safe.

3. Convenience

Have you ever forgotten your credit card in a different coat or pair of pants?

Have you ever had to dig in your wallet for your credit card, thus holding up other people in line?

If you can’t immediately locate your card, you can still probably locate your phone.

You’ll be able to quickly and simply make your payment using your mobile wallet.

Rise Of Mobile Payments

Mobile payments have been on the rise since before the pandemic ever hit.

When the pandemic forced many businesses to drastically change their processes, more people than ever felt more comfortable using mobile payments in order to adapt to the new normal.

Most merchants offer NFC payments these days, and the number is on the rise.

Customers expect to be able to use NFC payments, especially from national and international brands, and McDonald’s knew to offer his option to customers almost as soon as it became available.

When the pandemic changed the way we did business, McDonald’s was already relatively set up for contactless payments.

Ways To Order Food At McDonald’s

1. In-Store

You can always buy your food in-store. In-store ordering is the best option if you have time and want to relax and enjoy your meal while it’s fresh.

Other people may cause you to wait longer in line, and the people can cause other trouble, too.

2. Drive-Thru

The drive-thru is perfect for people in a hurry.

If you don’t mind a less-than-comfortable eating environment or waiting until you get to your destination, a drive-thru tends to be faster, and you don’t have to interact with other patrons.

The cashier working the drive-thru will bring the credit card terminal closer to you from the window so that you can connect your phone to the terminal.

3. Mobile App

If you are in so much of a hurry that the drive-thru won’t do, you can order your food in advance so that it’s ready and waiting for you when you get to the restaurant.

You can order from the McDonald’s app on your phone.

After you select the items you want, you will have the option to use Apple Pay when you check out.

Since you will be completing the ordering and payment with two different apps on the same phone, the process will be quite simple.

Troubleshooting Tips For Your Mobile Wallet

What happens if your mobile wallet doesn’t work for whatever reason?

There are a couple of things you can do to ensure that it’s not a problem with a quick fix.

1. Verify You Selected The Right Card

If you have multiple cards in your mobile wallet, you need to make sure that you selected the correct card.

Go to your Apple Pay app to ensure that you have the correct card selected as the primary card.

You may simply learn that you need to select the correct card and try again.

2. Restart Your Phone

While it sounds like an obvious solution, sometimes your phone or the app is out of whack, and you need to restart the phone to get everything back in order.

Restart your phone while you let the next person move forward with their purchase before trying again.

Restarting your phone will restart the app as well. While you can restart the app first, it’s easier to restart the entire phone instead of restarting the app then restarting the phone as well.

3. Reenter Card Details

If the terminal doesn’t seem to accept your payment at all, you may want to delete and reenter your payment information.

If you reenter the card details, you should double-check the information carefully before you resubmit it.

4. Call Your Financial Institution

Finally, if nothing else works, you will need to call your financial institution to learn what the problem is.

The financial institution won’t be able to help if the app can’t process the payment to begin with.

However, you may be able to learn more about why a purchase was declined.

In some cases, your bank may require additional authorization from you before they authorize mobile wallet payments, especially if this was one of the first times you used that card in your mobile wallet.

Broken Credit Card Terminal

If a credit card terminal appears broken, let an employee know right away.

The employee can ring up your order at a different terminal that isn’t broken.

McDonald’s has technical specialists they can call when a terminal goes down.

The employee will call the service company to service the credit card machines if necessary.

If the entire system is down, they may need to call for emergency repairs.

While still an emergency, the technicians might not resolve the problem before your lunch break is over.

Ways To Pay At McDonald’s (Besides Apple Pay)

If you want to use Apple Pay to pay for your order, but your Apple Pay isn’t working, you will need to learn what other payment methods you can use.

You can pay in the following alternate methods:

• Debit card
• Credit card
• Other mobile wallets
• Gift card
• Cash

What Payment Methods Will McDonald’s Not Accept?

McDonald’s will not accept a check from any customers.

Checks usually don’t go through for several days, so McDonald’s wouldn’t have a way to verify the funds when taking the check.

The restaurant will also not take Venmo, CashApp, or PayPal payments.

These payments usually tie to your bank account and remove money using an app, similar to a mobile wallet.

You can probably get similar results using a mobile wallet.

Conclusion

McDonald’s is loving just about any way that they can collect money from customers for their food, including Apple Pay and other mobile wallets.

Of course, it’s important to understand mobile wallets and why you may want to use one instead of the other multiple payment methods offered, and what to do if Apple Pay doesn’t work.