No discount code if you use Apple Pay

I have discovered that if you use Apple Pay, you cannot add in the discount code at many websites or apps. I don’t run into this issue with PayPal.

With many web sites and apps, you add in the payment, then the discount code. With credit cards and PayPal, you are usually returned to the final checkout screen where you add in the discount code. With Apple Pay, you’re order is completed with no chance for entering the discount code.

I’m usually not a person who does discount codes, but certain stores, like Levi’s, it is automatically assumed you have a discount code. Heck, you go on their website, and they give you one for 30% off. To compensate for this, they usually jack up their prices by 30%.

There is also a tea company I order from
which gives me points I can redeem for cash. I can’t put in my points if I use Apple Pay.

This is something Apple should look into before this becomes the new Apple Tax.

I’ve experienced that too, but I think the blame falls on the website, not Apple Pay. In my experience the Apple Pay option is implemented too early in their ordering flow. For sites that allow you to specify a code before payment is collected, I’ve gotten my discount.

I agree, the issue is with the implementation, but it should not happen at all with iPhone and iPad apps. The issue I had was with the Levi’s iPhone app. Apple should be testing to make sure discount codes can be applied by Apple Pay users before they approve the app.

And, in the end, it is still an Apple Issue whether it’s an implementation fault or not because it affects Apple Pay’s usability. It may mean Apple isn’t making it clear to websites that accept Apple Pay how it should be done correctly. And maybe there should be some implementation changes to Apple Pay to make it more adoptable to websites.

Right now, if a website uses Apple Pay, it closes out the transaction, the credit card is charged, shipping address is set, email address for tracking is given, and all of that is given to a website. Maybe there should be a second mode where Apple Pay doesn’t finalize the transaction until final approved by the website and allow the website to give a discount (but no additional charges).

Ah, it wasn’t clear (to me) that you were talking about apps, not websites.

But it’s really not that complicated. Clearly the app or website is telling Apple Pay how much to charge, so move the handoff after the discount is determined. Some websites are already doing it correctly, so it’s possible. I urge you to report this problem to the company you’re buying from, ultimately they are the ones that would have to fix it either way.

Definitely the site/app’s implementation. While I haven’t seen the discount code problem, I have noticed some sites where the shipping cost is not shown until the payment screen. When paying with Apple Pay it’s easy to miss an outrageous shipping charge if you’re not careful.

For me the amount of shipping often determines whether or not I make the purchase and I prefer to know it before I check out.

That said, paying with Apple Pay – especially the way all my info is provided automatically so I don’t have to set up an account – is awesome and I love sites that support it and it makes me much more likely to order.

Another disadvantage of using Apple Pay is you can’t specify a shipping address that is different than the billing address. I learned that the hard way. Fortunately, my mail-forwarding took care of it, eventually!

I use Apple Pay on my iPhone at the point-of-sale terminal in stores and am used to being able to select a different credit card if I so desire, Select Apple Pay on a web site and it uses your default card without a chance to specify something different.

Interesting. I’ve never used Apple Pay on a web page or app, but I did notice that the iOS “Wallet & Apple Pay” settings page has a a “Shipping Address” link (in the “Transaction Defaults” section, just below where you select the default card) where you can enter and select different shipping addresses.

Have you tried putting different addresses in there? If you have more than one, does Apple Pay let you pick one? If you change the default address, does Apple Pay change to use that one?

All very good questions! I was not aware of the shipping address fields in Apple Wallet. If I buy anything online with Apple Pay before we leave Florida for the frigid North, I’ll be certain to test that out!

I seem to be able to choose alternate addresses, when using Apple Pay on websites. I can even enter a new postal address.

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That’s not true. When you press Apple Pay, you get a screen showing you the credit card, shopping address, shopping method, and contact. You can change any of these by clicking on the arrow (>) on the rightside of the screen. See below.

To change defaults, click on “>” in red squares.

I’ve never seen anything like that; it must be implementation-dependent.

@foo showed what a website with Touch ID looks like and I showed what an iPhone app with Face ID looks like.

It took me a while to realize that you could change shipping address with Apple Pay because I simply wasn’t expecting this is where you specify a new shipping address. Paying with Apple Pay completely replaces the final checkout. PayPal does not.

On web stores that I maintain I usually turn off Apple Pay until the customer gets to the checkout page. Then it all works with coupons and such. The default is usually to offer payment buttons on every product, on the cart page, and on the checkout page.

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