There are a number of incentives provided to people who have a credit or debit card by their banks, one of those incentives being the ability to get cashback for using the cards. How good or worth it these services are is debatable, but for a lot of people, it is a solid reason to use them instead of cash. The question is, can you use Apple Pay to get cashback?
You can get Cashback with Apple Pay. In the event that your card has a cashback benefit, and the store accepts Apple Pay as a form of payment, and the card is linked to your Apple Pay account, you should be able to take advantage of the cashback feature.
But is it even worth using Apple Pay for cashback? And how much can you even get out of it in the first place? Find the answers for those and more below.
Can You Get Cash Back with Apple Pay?
So long as the store accepts Apple Pay, your card has a cashback feature, and your card is linked to Apple Pay, you should not have any trouble using it in this way.
There are two ways that you can try to get cashback with Apple Pay. The first involves ordering offline, where the store in question would need to be capable of facilitating payment via Apple Pay. To actually pay with Apple Pay, you have to put your phone back into a compatible payment reader. If successful, you should see a blue checkmark on the phone screen. Do note, however, that it may ask for additional details.
If you are not sure whether the company will allow the use of Apple Pay, be sure to check their website to get confirmation. You can also search the Internet about that specific business in order to get more perspectives.
Now, online is a bit easier, as all you need to be able to know is whether the business’ online storefront allows the use of Apple Pay. There’s also less of a risk of your time being wasted if you mistakenly believe that the company allows Apple Pay when it doesn’t. No more having to go back home to pick up your other payment method after Apple Pay falls through as an option since you are already home.
Which banks allow you to get Cash Back with Apple Pay?
Generally speaking, you should not fret too much about whether your bank is a participating one, as many thousands of banks are listed as participating ones on Apple Pay’s support page. All you need to do is look up your bank on this page (assuming you live in Canada, Latin America, or the United States anyway). If your bank is not currently listed, it may become a participating bank in the future.
Specifically, you can choose to get cashback by connecting an Apple Card to your Apple Pay account. In doing so, you would be able to get two percent cashback for purchases made with Apple Card or Apple Pay set up with Apple Card.
Can I get Cash Back from online purchases with Apple Pay?
While it is not impossible for a card to have such a limitation, we cannot think of any card that does such a thing. This is because limiting cashback to only offline locations would severely limit itself at a time when so much of our shopping time is spent online.
The only real exception here is if you are dealing with a store that does not accept Apple Pay either online or offline. For example, Walmart currently does not allow its customers to use Apple Pay to purchase from them, whether the purchase is made online or offline. It may seem strange, but the truth is, it is actually due to a contractual obligation between Walmart and Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX).
It should be noted that just because Walmart does not support it, that does not mean that Apple Pay is necessarily an inferior service to a competitor like PayPal, even despite PayPal being usable on Walmart. For example, while Amazon.com does not allow you to purchase items with PayPal, it does allow you to use Apple Pay.
How does getting Cash Back work?
The exact way that cashback works with your respective card (and vicariously, Apple Pay) is that, depending on the reward, you will receive a certain percentage of cashback. Typically, a bank or credit card company would offer a certain percentage of money back on a purchase. They may also include stipulations, such as preventing you from getting cashback on an order unless it reaches a certain price point, or preventing you from getting cashback after a certain amount of money has been spent.
The amount of cashback you actually will receive will vary from card to card. For instance, you can get 1.5 percent cashback on some, while others may even go as high as five percent. While five percent only represents, for example, five dollars off of a 100 dollar order, that certainly adds up. It is not something that is going to make or break it for your life, but if you use it for your entertainment and food budgets, you can expect to have a little extra fun money to spend.
What is the point of Cash Back?
Getting cashback for using a debit or credit card seems like it would be quite a disadvantage for the holders. After all, you’re basically getting free money for buying something you would get anyway. However, there are a fair few advantages for them when using this system.
One of those advantages is the fact that, by offering rewards for using their cards, it encourages their customers to stay loyal to them and use their cards more. Credit cards, for example, could encourage people to spend more money than they normally would because of the cashback feature.
They may also spend beyond their means, giving them credit card debt that only worsens over time. Thus, before you decide to take advantage of a cashback feature, make sure that you understand the potential risks involved. Otherwise, you may find that various fees and late penalties are enough to make any cashback earnings moot.
Yet, so long as you are careful with your spending, and do not allow yourself to overspend or buy too many frivolous things, this should not be much of an issue for you. Of course, also be mindful that you keep up with credit card payments, as these loans only get worse the longer they are allowed to go on.
Are there other rewards besides cashback?
While cashback is one of the most common benefits you will see on a credit card, you may also benefit from other features, like rewards points and miles. Not all credit cards will offer these, particularly with miles, which are generally offered through sponsored credit cards (such as the Delta SkyMiles American Express Card). Getting miles through your credit card purchase allows you to put these miles to the respective flight and airline you would like to work with. Meanwhile, points can be spent on certain websites and/or for certain products.
In addition to the types of rewards available, there are also different stipulations for each card, affecting how you can spend them. Some allow you to deposit to a bank account, pay with points at qualifying websites, receive gift cards and/or merchandise, and even give to a qualifying charity. However, you may have to use your rewards only at a certain threshold. Check to see what limitations exist with your credit card’s cashback rewards, if any.
Further, if you are worried about rewards expiration, the good news is that most of the time, you will not have to worry about that. Unless you close your credit card or bank account, or you become delinquent, you should be good to go to save them for something fun.
How secure a form of payment is Apple Pay?
Apple Pay is more or less as secure as other comparable services, and arguably more secure than using credit, debit, and/or cash. There are circumstances, however, where the security of Apple Pay may become compromised. For example, if you jailbreak your iPhone, this could potentially give hackers access to your Apple Pay account. That said, this is more a risk for a jailbroken phone than Apple Pay, as a hacker could infiltrate many payment methods on your phone.
Is Apple Pay worth using over other forms of payment?
There are several options to choose from in terms of online payment services, with Apple Pay being among the most prominent. Other such services include PayPal, Venmo, CashApp, and Google Pay. No one payment method is so much better than any other, with some people having their own preferences, so don’t fret about changing to or from Apple Pay.
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