Does McDonald’s Accept American Express (Amex)?: A Guide

woman with credit card and phone

Does McDonald’s Accept Amex: Short Answer

The short answer is yes, Mcdonald’s does accept Amex and will accept most other mainstream credit cards.


Can You Use Amex (American Express) in the McDonald’s Drive-thru?

Yes, you can use Amex in the McDonald’s drive-thru.

Simply take your Amex card to the window where you pay and present it to the cashier and you can pay either chip and pin or contactless.


Can You Pay With Amex (American Express) With the McDonald’s App?

Yes, you can use Amex with the McDonald’s app.

Simply download the app from the Play or Apple Store and install it.

To add Amex to the McDonald’s app you should do the following:

  1. Click the “More” tab in the McDonald’s App (this is found on the bottom row to the far right hand side) 
  2. Go to “Profile” (the top option)
  3. Then click Payment Methods
  4. You can then add or remove your payment method details

The app will then save your Amex card for future payments.

You can then purchase your food and then drive to collect it from your local restaurant or purchase your food whilst in the restaurant’s parking lot.


Is Amex Accepted at McDonald’s in Countries Around the World?

American Express is accepted in most countries across the world so you should be fine to use your Amex card at most McDonald’s branches when traveling globally.


Alternate Ways to Pay at McDonald’s

person paying with card

You can pay for your meal in numerous different ways at McDonald’s including:

  • Good old fashioned cash
  • Debit card instore, at the drive thru and on the app
  • Apple Pay instore, at the drive thru and on the app
  • Google Pay instore and at the drive thru
  • Samsung Pay instore and at the drive thru

You should note that McDonald’s does not accept PayPal unless you have it set up on your Google Pay or Samung Pay.


Should You Pay With Amex at McDonald’s?

Whenever you make a decision about whether to use a credit card for purchases, there are both advantages and disadvantages to consider.

Advantages:

  • Opportunity to build credit
  • Chance to gain points and other perks
  • Protection offered against fraud
  • You can take advantage of your credit card limit, while not eating into your checking account funds

Disadvantages:

  • Potentially having to pay interest
  • Getting trapped by more debt
  • Can negatively affect your credit score
  • Risk of overspending

Bottom Line

While it is possible to use your Amex card at McDonald’s, it is important to remember not to lose track of your spending, which can easily happen if you’re putting all of your expenses onto your credit card.

However, using a credit card does have its advantages as we’ve set out above and therefore it’s worth considering, especially if you want to build credit card points.


About the author

Oliver graduated from law school in 2008 and has practiced exclusively in the field of civil litigation for the last 10 years. He has a wealth of experience and expertise in litigation involving large financial losses and a special interest in consumer law. He has achieved numerous 7 figure settlements and has been involved in multi-billion dollar class-action consumer lawsuits against companies such as the Volkswagen Group. Away from the law, he is a consumer information and personal finance writer, having been featured in key publications such as Yahoo Finance, GO Banking Rates, NewsBreak, MEL Magazine, and many more.



-Chief Editor and Founder

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