Can I tap and go in the USA?

36 comments

1. Tap and go is increasingly common, but not ubiquitous. Why bring cash when you can get cash here?

2. Almost everyplace accepts cards. You might want a little cash because some mom and pop places won’t.

   It might not be tap, but they will almost all accept chip or swipe.

3. I have no idea what an etfpos (electronic funds transfer at the point of sale, maybe?) is, but you can use the tap function on a mastercard or visa card, or through apple/google pay in the US, yes.

   It’s good to have the physical card with you too though, occasionally there are places that still don’t have tap.

4. Usually we insert our cards into the machines. There’s a chip towards one side. Do cards in your country have that?

5. Most places take card but not everywhere. Also some older bus stations and parking places won’t and I’ve had issues with using cards on some machines. Atleast carry some cash with ya.

6. Using tap and go isn’t super common, but almost everywhere you go will accept cards in some fashion.

   A little cash is handy for tips and vending machines and the like.

7. The tap and go might not be functional with your specific card – lots of terminals in the US don’t recognize Canadian bank cards, for example, since they connect to an account with a different currency.

   Check with the provider of your card to see if that function will work outside of your home country.

   Edit: not about the currency, but still check with your provider.

8. Cards are widely accepted, wireless is going to vary. Sometimes you may need to swipe or use the chip

   Cash is king in some parts of the country or at businesses that sell low cost goods. My favorite donut shop is cash only. I’ve been to 3 cash only businesses this weekend in Chicago

9. You mean paying with your phone? You’re going to run into places where it’s not available yet. A Visa or MasterCard credit/debit card will get you almost anywhere, but there’s a handful of places where you might still want cash.

10. ITT: Elderly Hicks saying “cash is king ” over and over based purely on the fact that Sneed’s Feed and Seed over on route 30 doesn’t take debit cards.

    OP, any place you visit that’s worth visiting will take card. Most of them will have tap and pay set up.

11. Tap exploded in popularity here with the pandemic, but you’ll still find some places that don’t do tap. Cards are almost universally accepted though they may be chip or swipe only. I still advise carrying some cash as a backup, $100-200. Better safe than sorry, though the last time I actually paid cash for something was probably 2019.

12. I think a lot of credit card machines support the function, it just hasn’t really caught on with the people. I see people using tap with their cards or their phones decently often these days, like maybe 5-10% of customers.

    Otherwise you just do chip and pin. Maybe some places still have you swipe but I’ve done that like twice in the past couple years.

13. I use tap most places (with my phone or watch) but it can definitely depend on business and even region. Just having a card with you is probably fine, although you may want some cash depending on where you’ll be (+ for street food).

14. Facility and use depend on where you go. Lots of stores have the proper machines, but not all Americans are comfortable with tap cards or even know that’s a thing.

15. Nobody here calls it “Tap and go” or “EFTPOS.”

    Contactless payments with actual cards are not widely used — I suspect (but have no actual data) this is because the average American has multiple cards; this means that they can’t simply tap their wallet on the card reader — they have to pull out the specific card they want to use, at which point it’s simpler to just stick the card into the chip reader.

    Smartphone NFC payments — [ApplePay, almost exclusively](https://www.talkandroid.com/369056-google-pay-samsung-pay-dominated-by-apple-pay-us/) — are probably more common than actual card-based contactless payments.

    Contactless payments are widely supported at two types of businesses:

    1. Most chains like McDonalds, Starbucks, Panera, Target, Kohls, Staples, Best Buy, Macys, Trader Joes, Publix, Wegmans, Safeway, Rite-Aid, Walgreens, CVS etc.

    2. Small businesses that use those fancy glossy white touchscreen or tablet-type cash registers (Square, Clover, Toast) — basically every hip coffee shop you’ve ever seen.

    Notable exceptions are Wal-Mart and Kroger, which are trying to promote their own silly payment schemes.

    Probably 85% of the places I’ve been to support contactless cards, and probably 98% take cards of some sort

16. Lots of gas stations have the tap function.

    I know this because I hate trying to figure out the correct alignment to slide my card into the machine. So I use tap.

17. Some places are cash-only, but it’s rare. And you can use your card to get cash from an ATM if you really need to go to those.

18. Don’t being cash. Seek a credit card with zero foreign transaction fees, or minimal fees.

19. That depends entirely on where you’re going. Almost everywhere takes card and most of them can do contactless with your card or phone, but especially in more rural areas and smaller businesses that can’t easily afford POS upgrades (that shit is expensive), you might still come across card readers that have no contactless option or even no chip option.

20. I would use tap/contactless if there was an area marking the sensor

21. I almost solely use tap and go. I never carry my cards on me anymore, maybe one fur drive thru and that’s it.

22. I would also check with your bank if there are any extra transaction fees associated with foreign travel. As for tap and go, it’s becoming more common.

23. I can’t remember the last time I paid for something with cash or swipe a card. EMV chip and/or contactless are taken in 99% of places now.

24. Pretty much everywhere accepts tap with Apple Pay at least, and if not you can use the chip.

25. Many larger retailers use tap, but bring a card because you will definitely need it

26. How prevalent tap and go is depends on where you’ve visiting. I think it’s very common in major cities, at least I know it is in Seattle. You will definitely run into a situation where the tap isn’t available no matter where you are, but you can still use the chip, or even swipe if the chip doesn’t work. It would be pretty rare that a place doesn’t take credit cards at all, especially if you’re staying in cities. Even at festivals, small business vendors usually use Square or something that lets them swipe your card with their phone. Small businesses, like convenience stores, might charge you a fee if your purchase is under $5 and you use a credit card, but I don’t remember the last time I saw a place that didn’t accept cards at all. I would bring some cash for emergencies, but I doubt you’ll use it.

    Do tell your bank and credit card company that you’re traveling though, I imagine it’s similar to here where they might flag your card as fraud if you suddenly have a charge in a foreign country. FYI for everyone, many times the first charge will go through, then that’s flagged as fraud, so the second charge will decline.

    Edit: Forgot to add that it also depends on your credit card company. Visa and Mastercard are accepted everywhere. I’m not sure if anyone outside the US has American Express, but some places won’t accept American Express. I don’t know what companies exist in your country, but if you have something other than Visa/Mastercard then you might run into more situations where you need cash.

27. Yes, but keep cash on you in case shit happens. That’s not about transaction preference, it’s just being smart and savvy

28. Lots of places have tap functionality. Nearly every place will have a chip/swipe option (most common here). You may need cash for small, locally owned shops, but even the majority of those will have a card option. Maybe carry a $20 on you just in case, but a card will work at 99.9% of shops and restaurants.

29. I’m not familiar with etfpos, but most POS machines I’ve encountered can accept tap-and-pay from correctly equipped cards or smart phones. “Insert card here chip-end first” slots are universal now, and most still have mag stripe readers. I generally don’t bother carrying cash at all. The only place I’ve really found that doesn’t take Google or Samsung pay is the typical gas station pump, you want to pay with your phone, you’ve got to go inside. Or stick your card in the slot.

30. Tap is getting pretty common.
    Chip is common almost everywhere. Swipe should be everywhere.

    If you stick around cities and towns you will have no issue and probably have no need for cash.

    If you are driving around and are getting rural they should have at least swipe and chip but you might need cash.

    I would probably take out a couple hundred USD in $20 bills just in case. Some very small shops or family restaurants might be cash only. I know a few places not just in old suburb downtowns but even in the big cities proper that are cash only. Events like state and county fairs likely are cash only.

    Worst case you take out some cash and don’t use it during your trip. Just pay cash for everything the last couple days to get rid of as much as possible. Everywhere takes cash.

31. I live in DFW and use tap to pay NFC (through Google pay) pretty much daily. Just about the only places I can’t are bars/sit down restaurants; which is totally ok with me as those are the kinds of places I most expect someone to do nefarious things with that tech anyways

32. Tap tech isn’t widespread here yet so the smaller the town, the less likely you’ll be able to use it. Chip is still good in most places, and on a rare occasion, you’ll find a small place that’s still cash only.

33. Maybe it’s just my area, but a lot of people are saying tap and go isn’t super common. I find that I use it at about 60-70% of the places I go. Sometimes, the machines aren’t really well marked, but I’ve learned which machine actually have it, even when it’s not obvious. But as others have stated, it’s best to have chip or swipe too. For some reason, a lot of gas stations have the tap and go hardware, but it’s disabled for some reason, which makes no sense because gas pumps is one of the best places for tap and go for security reasons.

34. Everywhere pretty much takes cards unless stated otherwise. Tap payments with a card used to not be popular, but have been growing more and more in the US in the past few years, mainly because most banks here have begun issuing chip cards that are NFC compatible. Not everywhere has readers with NFC, but more and more places do as time passes. Most chains and larger stores have readers equipped for tap now, at least where I live

35. It seems pretty widely available now. I’ve been tapping away merrily the last two weeks no problem.

    For ATMs, I had an issue with a small banks ATM the other day but a big bank worked fine.

36. Don’t visitor visa require a certain amount to enter