Does Sonic Take Apple Pay?

Sonic otherwise known as Sonic Drive-in is a popular American drive-in fast-food restaurant chain owned by Inspire Brands which also is the parent company of Arby’s and Buffalo Wild Wings. As of 2022, Sonic has 3,548 restaurants located in 46 states in the United States and is ranked 14th in QSR Magazine’s rankings of the top 50 quick-service and fast-casual restaurant brands in the nation. With the amount of people growing to know about Sonic, it’s important to know if the store has integrated Apple Pay as one of its acceptable payment methods 

Sonic Drive-in does take Apple Pay as a payment method whenever you want to make a payment for your purchase in the drive-in. Sonic began accepting Apple Pay as a payment method on the 2nd of November, 2019. Sonic also encourages customers to use Apple Pay by offering discounts and launch offers. 

Apple Pay makes it very convenient and easier for you to complete your purchase at Sonic Drive-in. This is why in this article, I’ll be discussing if you can use Apple Pay at Sonic Drive-in at their stores and online. I’ll also share with you the steps to help you set up your apple wallet and use Apple Pay at Sonic Drive-in stores. 

Does Sonic Take Apple Pay?

If you want to make purchases at Sonic and you’re contemplating if the store accepts Apple Pay as a payment method, you need not worry as Apple Pay is accepted at all the Sonic stores across the United States. 

Sonic has been accepting Apple Pay as a payment method since November 2019, and although the store isn’t one of the platform’s earliest adopters, the drive-in chain makes sure to encourage its customers to use Apple Pay as their preferred payment method by offering them discounts and some other mouth-watering offers. 

Sonic began accepting Apple Pay a little just before the Covid-19 pandemic hit and since its adoption, the platform made sure that most users make use of the NFC-based payment method to complete their payment as the payment method minimized contact and is one of the fastest and most convenient payment methods. 

Hence, with Apple Pay’s contactless payment feature, users only have to place their apple devices close to the NFC scanner to initiate payment and complete their purchases. This helped to minimize physical contact and helped curb the spread of Covid in the littlest way it could.

Apple Pay is one of the most convenient payment methods as users don’t need to spend their time on a queue to complete their checkout process. After ordering your favorite food at the Sonic, process to the NFC scanner and place your phone close to it, and immediately, your order is authorized. This process barely takes a minute because it’s an instant process and since a lot of users will rather minimize the time spent to make a payment instead of ending up in a long queue, so they decide to use Apple Pay. 

Does Sonic Accept Apple Pay At Its Drive-in?

You can use Apple Pay at any Sonic drive-in across the United States. Since Sonic announced the integration of Apple Pay as one of the accepted payment methods at all Sonic drive-ins on 2nd of November, 2019, all of its drive-ins across the country has incorporated the payment method and users were now able to use the payment method whenever they grab takeout at the drive-ins.

However, if you’re still worried about Sonic accepting Apple Pay as one of its accepted payment methods, you can verify this by searching on Apple Maps. To do this, open your Apple Maps and enter the drive-in’s address. Once the results pop, scroll to the “Useful To Know” section and check if Apple Pay logo is added there. If it is, that means you can use Apple Pay to complete your purchase at the drive in and if it isn’t, you may need to go with another payment method just in case the drive-in’s NFC scanner is faulty. 

Does Sonic Accept Apple Pay Online?

If you’re using the Sonic App and you’ll like to make an order prior to when you go to the drive-in to pick it up, and you’re wondering if you can use Apple Pay, worry not as Sonic does accept Apple Pay whenever you’re completing your checkout process via the Sonic app. This means you can hop on the mobile app, make your order, head to the checkout page, and complete your purchase by paying with Apple Pay. 

How To Use Apple Pay At Sonic Drive-ins

To be able to use Apple Pay at Sonic drive-ins, you need to have set up your Apple Wallet prior. If you have set up your Apple Wallet prior, you can proceed to the steps explaining how to use Apple Pay at Sonic. However, if you haven’t, the following are the steps to set up your Apple Wallet:

How To Setup Your Apple Wallet 

Step 1: Go To Your iPhone Or iPad Settings And Open “Wallet & Apple Pay”

To set up your Apple wallet, go to your device’s settings and open “Wallet & Apple Pay”.

Step 2: Add Your Card

Add your card so you can use it as your default payment card for your purchases. Click on “Add Card” and proceed by tapping “continue”. 

Choose your payment type and then proceed to add your credit or debit card details by entering them manually or by scanning the card to automatically enter the details.

Step 3: Card Verification

You need to accept Apple’s terms and conditions to proceed to verify your card and complete all other required verification steps.

Step 4: Complete Wallet Setup

After verifying the card, you should now be able to use Apple Pay at any Sonic restaurant of your choice

How To Use Apple Pay At Sonic Drive-ins On iPhones and iPads:

Step 1: Select Your Payment Type, Launch Your Wallet And Select Your Preferred  Card 

As you head to the checkout counter, you should receive an alert on your device to use Apple Pay as your preferred payment method. If you don’t receive this alert, you can inform the attendant at the checkout counter that you’ll prefer to use Apple Pay as your preferred payment method.

Open your apple wallet and select your preferred card for the checkout. If you’re using the default card, you can go on to complete your purchase.

If you need to change the default card to use a different card, click on the default card and select a different card you’d prefer for the checkout.

Step 2: Authenticate Your Card 

Authenticate your card by activating the Face ID scanner. Double-click the power button to do this. If your Face ID scanner is unavailable, you can enter your Apple ID password to complete the process

If your phone uses Touch ID verification, place your finger on the home button. If the Touch ID scanner is unavailable, you can enter the Apple ID password to complete the process. 

Step 3: Complete Your Purchase

Place your iPhone or iPad near the contactless reader until a checkmark is displayed on your screen. This means that your payment has been successfully made.

Other Payment Methods Accepted At Soic Drive-ins

As one of the most popular drive-ins, Sonic offers various payment methods to aid users in choosing whichever payment method they’ll like to use. The following are the accepted payment methods at Sonic drive-ins:

• Credit or debit cards. (MasterCard, Visa, Amex, Discover,  etc)
• My Sonic gift cards
• Google Pay
• Samsung Pay
• Cash