More and more people are going towards contactless transactions when going to stores, and you may have wondered at one point whether does Safeway take apple pay or not.
In simple terms, Safeway does take Apple Pay. Using Apple Pay, you can buy groceries from Safeway without having to worry about credit/debit cards or having cash on you.
Safeway is a large grocery retail store in the US with over 904 stores spread throughout the US and some other countries.
Let’s dig into the details of Safeway and digital payments.
Does Safeway Take Apple Pay?
For the convenience of its customers, Safeway now accepts Apple Pay as a payment method in all of its stores.
This is really convenient for users, and you don’t have to worry about bringing your credit or debit card to the store with you. You also don’t have to worry about bringing cash with you.
All you have to do to pay at Safeway is to use a digital payment method like Apple Pay or Google Pay, and you can conduct contactless transactions very easily.
What Is Apple Pay?
For the non-tech folks out there, Apple Pay transactions may seem like magic, but in laymen’s terms, Apple Pay uses a Near Field Communication (NFC for short) technology that enhances user experience and allows them to make contactless transactions.
Apple Pay never sends your card information to Safeway, and it only sends the digital reader an encrypted code, and this code only allows the chip reader of the POS machine to charge you a certain amount.
Most stores didn’t have a digital reader in the past, but now, the digital reader machine is available in most stores which makes it easy for you to conduct your transactions.
Apple Pay also saves you from handling your card to someone, and you can make a contactless transaction very easily.
You just tap your phone lightly to the contactless reader, and the contactless reader will conduct the transaction magically.
This can be very secure as you don’t have to worry about Safeway or any other store out there storing your credit card details.
Only a dynamic security code is sent to Safeway or any other store. This dynamic security code keeps your real card safe.
Why Use Apple Pay At Safeway?
Apple Pay saves you the hassle of bringing your credit card with you and sliding it through a POS machine.
It happens to all of us that we sometimes forget our credit or debit cards and go to the store.
We’ve even forgotten our wallets in the car sometimes, but almost nobody leaves their phone away from them.
If you have your phone with you, conducting transactions at Safeway can be very easy. It will allow you to make contactless credit transactions or even debit transactions if you use a debit card.
Most American retailers now have a digital reader in their stores, so you can rest assured that Apple Pay will work at most stores throughout the US.
How To Use Apple Pay At Safeway?
Using Apple Pay at Safeway is very simple. Once you have Apple Pay set up on your iPhone, all you have to do is point your iPhone at the POS machine at the cash registry when checking out.
In some cases, you may also be required to tap your iPhone lightly to the POS machine at Safeway.
When you are ready to pay, just open the app at checkout, and in some cases, you don’t even have to open it and slightly tap the cash machine, and your contactless payments will be made.
Does Safeway Give Cashback On Apple Pay?
It is a general rule that almost most of the major retail and grocery stores will give you cash back on transactions conducted through debit, credit, or checks.
Safeway is no exception to this rule. It doesn’t matter if you are using Apple Pay, Google Pay, or your credit card. If the branch of Safeway you are shopping at offers cashback, you will be able to attain this service.
Do note that there isn’t any official announcement from Safeway about cashback, so we can’t be sure that every branch will offer this service.
It doesn’t mean that Safeway doesn’t offer cashback. It just means that each branch is managed differently and may have different local rules, so you’ll have to ask them first about cashback.
You can always ask the reception or the cashier at your Safeway to get information on whether they offer cashback or not.
If you can get cash back from Safeway using Apple Pay, it can save you the hassle of going to the nearest ATM to withdraw cash if you are short of it.
Can You Use Apple Pay For Online Orders At Safeway?
While you can use Apple Pay at Safeway in person, what about using it for online orders?
We’ve researched in every detail on this topic but haven’t been able to find any official claims by Safeway that allow you to make online purchases at Safeway using Apple Pay.
Unfortunately, you cannot use Apple Pay to make online purchases at Apple Pay. Safeway only accepts the following payment methods for online orders at the moment:
- Visa.
- MasterCard.
- American Express.
- Discover.
- Bank Of America.
Many stores allow you to use Apple Pay for online orders, such as Amazon.
You can expect Safeway to include Apple Pay as a payment method for online purchases in the near future, but at the moment, it doesn’t accept it.
You can also not use Apple Pay for Safeway Delivery & Pick.
You can still use Apple Pay for in-store purchases at Safeway.
What Payment Methods Does Safeway Accept?
Safe accepts a number of payment methods. If we are talking about online transactions, Safeway accepts credit/debit cards of Mastercard, American Express, Discover, and Visa.
Safeway also offers a “pick-up” service, and for this option only, you are also offered the SNAP EBT payment method.
Note that this payment method might not be available on all products and all branches of Safeway.
Do All Stores Accept Apple Pay?
In addition to Safeway, many other online stores, as well as big retailers like Walmart, accept Apple Pay as a payment method.
Do note that in order to make payment through Apple Pay, the store you are at has to have a POS machine that accepts Apple Pay. You can always ask this at the store you are at.
Here are some of the stores that accept Apple Pay in the United States:
- Amazon.
- Costco.
- Target.
- Walmart.
- Shoppers.
- Walgreens.
Benefits Of Using Apple Pay
There are many benefits to using Apple Pay, not only at Safeway but at other locations as well. Some of them have been discussed below:
Privacy And Security
Using a digital payment method such as Apple Pay or Google Play is a whole lot secure than simply using your debit card or credit card. This is especially true at stores you don’t trust.
When you use a normal credit/debit card to make transactions, you are giving away your information, and malicious people can use it against you for fraud.
This rarely happens, though, and one reported incident is when there was a security card breach at Target back in 2013. If this happens to you, good luck contacting your credit card company for a refund.
Your credit information is stored in the systems of the companies, but when you use Apple Pay, you only send a certain amount to the company, and your account details are never shared.
Your actual card never comes into contact with the company you are shopping at.
While Apple pay will use the default card that you have set in the app to make transactions, it will never share the details of your default card with Safeway.
Ease Of Use
How many times have you forgotten your wallet in your car or at home? How many times has it happened that you left your credit card somewhere and cannot find it?
We bet the instances are more than a few, at least. Let’s change the perspective and ask ourselves how many times have we forgotten our phones at home?
I’m sure that this will be close to zero for most of you as most people never leave their phone at home or in their car.
This is one main reason why using Apple Pay or any other digital payment method is very friendly. You don’t have to worry about bringing your physical card or cash with you at retail stores and can easily conduct transactions using your phone.
You can also use your Apple Watch to make payments through Apple Pay. Apple Pay is associated with most major banks such as American Express, Mastercard, Visa, Credit Union, Bank Of America, and the like. Apple pay also works with Canadian banks, so you don’t have to worry about it if you live in Canada.
You can use Apple pay at any major stores you like, and these are accepted at many different types of stores such as Disney stores, drug stores, Office Depot, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and many others.
Therefore, out of all the payment options, we think digital wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay are the most convenient.
How To Create An Apple Pay Account?
Creating an Apple Pay account is very easy and simple. For your ease, we’ve compiled it into the following steps. Follow along, and you shall have your digital wallet ready in a matter of seconds, minutes at worst:
- Locate the Wallet app on your iPhone. This app is mostly available by default on all devices.
- Inside the app, locate a button that has the plus (+) symbol. If you are on a Mac, this button will have the words “Add Card.” Press that button.
- You will now have to sign in to your Apple account. This is only required if you are not already signed in.
- Now you will be shown three different options. These will be “previous card,” “debit/credit card,” and “transit card.”
- Select the card information that you want to link with Apple Pay, and now you are good to go and have fun with your electronic wallets.
Conclusion – Does Safeway Take Apple Pay
We’ve gone into detail and have discussed the question, “does safeway take apple pay.” You can rest assured that Safeway does take Apple Pay as a valid payment method.
This is a great way to conduct contactless transactions, and you don’t have to worry about bringing your payment cards.
All in all, digital wallets make your checkout process very smooth, and they are great alternative methods to make a credit transaction.
Remember that Apple Pay can only be used for in-person transactions at Safeway.
This means that you can only use Apple Pay at Safeway when you are at one of their stores and are buying groceries.
You cannot use Apple Pay at Safeway for an online purchase.
Safeway also gives cashback on transactions made through Apple Pay but note that this is not available at all branches as these are managed individually, and different branches may have different rules.
You can easily set up Apple Pay on your iPhone by going into the wallet app and choosing the card you want to link with Apple Pay.
Apple Pay makes your Safeway transactions a lot easier and secure since you don’t have to worry about bringing your wallet or credit card. You also don’t have to worry about the security aspect of using a credit card at a store.
We hope you enjoyed reading this article. Be sure to read our other articles as well such as “can you put glass in microwave?“, “can dogs eat caramel?“, and “locked keys in trunk.”