What US credit cards can be used in McDonald's?
Dec 1, 2015, 11:50 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2012
Posts: 76
What US credit cards can be used in McDonald's?
In all McDonald's that I have visited in China there are small standalone POS credit card machines on a stand on top of the counters. I have tried at least 5 or 6 credit cards without success, including a Discover which I thought would surely work (because of the UnionPay alliance). Has anyone ever gotten an US (or any foreign) credit card to work there? Thanks.
Dec 2, 2015, 7:00 am
#2
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Southeast USA
Programs: various
Posts: 6,710
Discover should have worked if it was a debit card (not credit card) and if the correct button on the machine was pushed. BTW, the majority of the Chinese masses have debit cards but not credit cards which are not so easy to get in China. I doubt if most (any?) McDonalds are set up for foreign credit cards. Which begs the question: why would one even think of using a credit card at penny-ante places like this? China is still fundamentally a cash society, so hitting up an ATM and using cash RMB for all the minor expenses remains the no-brainer way to go.
Dec 2, 2015, 8:41 am
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2012
Posts: 76
I have seen colleagues using Chinese credit cards at McD's though.
Reasons:
1) Miles/points/cash back. It's my principle to get the most out of my spending.
2) I don't want to touch the gross money.
3) Using cash creates lots of bills of tiny amounts in my wallet.
Reasons:
1) Miles/points/cash back. It's my principle to get the most out of my spending.
2) I don't want to touch the gross money.
3) Using cash creates lots of bills of tiny amounts in my wallet.
Dec 2, 2015, 11:34 am
#5
Join Date: Aug 2008
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Posts: 1,874
In all McDonald's that I have visited in China there are small standalone POS credit card machines on a stand on top of the counters. I have tried at least 5 or 6 credit cards without success, including a Discover which I thought would surely work (because of the UnionPay alliance). Has anyone ever gotten an US (or any foreign) credit card to work there? Thanks.
Discover network debit cards may work. Discover's own debit cards won't, actually- they're geo-restricted to only function on their own network.
Dec 3, 2015, 12:40 pm
#7
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Shanghai
Posts: 42,031
@op
It's almost impossible to get by in China without touching money on occasion, but a combination of a Chinese debit card, alipay, and tenpay is sufficient for getting close to cashless in major cities.
Forget about foreign cards if you value peace of mind. Between fending off DCC and the now common "you MUST accept my Discover card because it is 银联" conversation, foreign cards are more trouble than they're worth.
It's almost impossible to get by in China without touching money on occasion, but a combination of a Chinese debit card, alipay, and tenpay is sufficient for getting close to cashless in major cities.
Forget about foreign cards if you value peace of mind. Between fending off DCC and the now common "you MUST accept my Discover card because it is 银联" conversation, foreign cards are more trouble than they're worth.
Dec 5, 2015, 10:40 am
#8
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2012
Posts: 76
Discover credit cards work, I've used one before. But it has to be magstripe-only. If it's got a chip on it, the terminal won't like it no matter how you try to run the card.
Discover network debit cards may work. Discover's own debit cards won't, actually- they're geo-restricted to only function on their own network.
Discover network debit cards may work. Discover's own debit cards won't, actually- they're geo-restricted to only function on their own network.
I might also bring a pair of chop sticks with me solely for paying and receiving RMB.