Does Panda Express Take Apple Pay?
We get the question "Does Panda Express take Apple pay" and here's what you need to know!

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Does Panda Express Take Apple Pay in 2023?

Yes, Panda Express Does Take Apple Pay in 2023.

Panda Express has been accepting payments via Apple Pay for a number of years.

In the same theme as being able to order your food and have it prepared for you very quickly, Panda Express makes it very quick and easy to pay for your food, too.

The sooner you’re able to pay and get your meal, the sooner you’re able to eat it and enjoy your Panda Express.

So, it stands to reason that offering fast and convenient payment methods is great for Panda Express so that they can serve more customers, and great for their customers because it makes the whole experience better.

It’s excellent that Panda Express has integrated Apple Pay into their physical restaurant locations because it gives their customers another way to protect themselves from identity theft, fraud, and the major inconveniences that can come from losing a credit card or having your information stolen.

Panda Express is a wildly popular fast-casual restaurant serving American-Chinese cuisine.

Panda Express is an American chain of restaurants with over 2,200 locations, but they aren’t just located in America, they also have restaurants in Asia.

Panda Express was founded in California in the year 1983.

They gained popularity by offering something unique in a quick format, where you can grab your food fast.

You’ll find Panda Express in many different malls and food courts.

In 1987, Chef Andy Kao created Panda Express’ unique take on orange chicken, which has become one of their best sellers.

Since just 2016, Panda Express has sold over 80 million pounds of their orange chicken.

The next time you order orange chicken from Panda Express, you’ll know that you contributed a tiny bit to that total!

But before you order one of your favorites like black pepper angus steak, kung pao chicken, grilled teriyaki chicken, chow mein, super greens, or something else – you’ll want to ensure that you can use your desired payment method at Panda Express.

We’ve done the research on how to pay at Panda Express, so here’s everything that you need to know.

does panda express take apple pay

Should You Use Apple Pay at Panda Express?

If you use Apple Pay anywhere, you should use it at Panda Express, too.

There’s no reason not to, as long as you have an iPhone or an Apple Watch with you anytime you leave the house, and you have a credit or debit card and don’t usually pay for everything in cash.

If you leave your phone at home and always pay in cash, then you’re the rare situation where it wouldn’t make sense to use Apple Pay – but everyone else should consider it!

Knowing how fast and fun it is to use Apple Pay, not to mention how incredibly convenient it is, there’s really no good reason not to use it whenever you can, including at Panda Express.

Convenience and speed aren’t the only great reasons to use Apple Pay whenever you can, though, but it’s a good enough couple of reasons to take the 3 minutes to set it up, especially once you find out the main benefit.

As alluded to above, using Apple Pay helps protect you as a consumer because it prevents any merchants from ever actually seeing your payment information, making it impossible for them to save it, and to risk it being stolen at any point.

It was all the way back in 2019 when Panda Express announced that they were rolling out Apple Pay, which means they weren’t among the earliest adopters, but they were still ahead of plenty of other fast food restaurants.

How To Use Apple Pay at Panda Express

Before you can use Apple Pay at Panda Express, you need to set it up for the first time.

This takes a few minutes, but then you’re good to go.

Take a few moments to set it up right now, if you haven’t before, and you’ll be ready to use it the next time you leave your home to buy something – and even for online shopping at a lot of different stores!

Begin by opening up the Panda Express app on your iPhone and then following the directions that it gives you to add your first payment card.

If there isn’t a prompt to add your payment information when you first open the app, look for a small + sign in the top right corner and you’ll be on your way.

Add your preferred credit card or debit card, complete any additional verification steps that may arise, and you’re on your way.

Once you get to a restaurant or a store, or Panda Express in this case, you can pull out your iPhone or Apple Watch when it’s time to pay.

Double-press on your phone’s power button and you’ll be prompted to verify your identity and the purchase.

Hold your device near the payment terminal and you’ll get a little notification on your device to let you know once the payment has been completed.

And that’s it, you’re all done.

You’ve paid for your food and you didn’t have to take out your wallet, or hand your credit card over to anyone, or even scan your credit card, so your card information is still perfectly private.

When you’re always pulling out your card at different stores, passing it to the cashiers, swiping it, having it typed into computers, it’s only a matter of time until that data is breached and by that point, it’s too late.

So, consider using Apple Pay to protect your payment information wherever you go, as long as you’re at a place that accepts Apple Pay.

When you store your cards inside of your Apple Wallet, they’re a lot more safe than carrying them around in a physical wallet, so it’s always a plus when you find a restaurant or a store that accepts Apple Pay.

does panda express take apple pay

Other Ways to Pay at Panda Express

You can purchase a Panda Express gift card to pay for your orders, but it doesn’t really make sense to tie up your cash in gift cards when you can just use Apple Pay and it’s even more convenient to use Apple Pay than the gift card.

You can also pay for your food at Panda Express using one of the major credit cards, a debit card, or cash.

Given the choice, though, it makes sense to use Apple Pay, especially if you already have it setup with your preferred card for paying with. You’ll still get any rewards points from your credit card, even if you pay through Apple Pay.

Conclusion

You can use Apple Pay at most, if not all, Panda Express locations as long as they’ve been a part of the roll-out since they began a few years ago.

It’s possible the machines at some locations are down when you go to pay, or they don’t have it setup properly yet, but they made their announcement years ago so it’s fair to assume that most of their locations are covered.

Apple Pay, via your Apple Wallet, is a fantastic way to keep track of your payment cards and other things like gift cards, Starbucks cards, and so on.

If you haven’t used it before, just give it a try!

It’s easier than you may think, and you’ll get the hang of it very quickly.