Apple Card 3% Merchants: Latest Changes — Panera Dropped
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The list of merchants where you can earn 3% cash back by using the Apple Card has shrunk for the first time. Effective Feb. 1, 2025, purchases made with the card using Apple Pay at Panera Bread will no longer earn 3%. Instead, such spending will earn the card's standard 2% cash back rate for purchases made through Apple Pay.
The Apple Card normally earns 2% back on purchases made with Apple Pay and 1% back on purchases with the physical card. But you earn 3% when you use Apple Pay at select merchants.
For about a year after the Apple Card launched in 2019, merchants were steadily added to the 3% list, but lineup changes have been fairly minimal since August 2020 — when Panera itself was added. When Booking.com and ChargePoint became 3% merchants in November 2024, they were the first additions in two and a half years.
Previously announced merchants:
Nov. 19, 2024: The 3% merchant list added online travel site Booking.com and EV charging network ChargePoint. On Booking.com, the 3% rate applies to qualifying prepaid stays and car rentals booked through an exclusive link (booking.com/apple-card); bookings made through the Booking.com website or app may not qualify. For ChargePoint, it covers spending at eligible ChargePoint stations, but it also extends to purchases of ChargePoint home chargers.
April 19, 2022: When the Apple Card added Ace Hardware to its 3% merchant list, it was the first home improvement retailer to join those ranks. The 3% rate applies to purchases in the Ace Hardware app, on AceHardware.com and at participating stores nationwide. The cash back through the card — which accrues as Daily Cash — is in addition to the points customers receive from the Ace Rewards program
Aug. 3, 2020: The first restaurant added to the 3% roster was Panera Bread. The 3% applied to transactions inside Panera stores, but also via the Panera app and on Panera.com. Online gift card purchases were not eligible. (Note: Effective Feb. 1, 2025, Panera will no longer be a 3% merchant.)
June 29, 2020: Purchases with the card via Apple Pay at Exxon and Mobil gas stations earn 3% cash back. This rewards rate extends to fuel, car washes and convenience store purchases. The Apple Card with Apple Pay also works within the Exxon Mobil Rewards+ app, which itself allows customers to earn points toward future fuel savings. Those points are "stackable" with the 3% back that the credit card earns.
Nov. 25, 2019: Retailer Nike joined the list, meaning you can earn 3% cash back on purchases made with the Apple Card through Apple Pay in Nike stores, via Nike.com and on Nike apps. (Purchases at Nike-branded stores outside of the United States will not qualify for 3% back.)
Sept. 20, 2019: In-store T-Mobile purchases made with the Apple Card through Apple Pay will earn 3% cash back, as will bill payments and auto-pay online and in the T-Mobile app. The addition of this 3% category coincided with the release of the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max, although the offer applies to any purchase made at a T-Mobile location, regardless of equipment brand.
Sept. 13, 2019: Apple Card users earn 3% back on eligible Walgreens and Duane Reade purchases made via Apple Pay. This includes prescriptions, as well as purchases through the Walgreens app and on Walgreens.com.
Aug. 20, 2019: Uber and Uber Eats were added as 3% cash-back categories through Apple Pay. Those weren't listed among the Apple Card's bonus categories when the product was initially announced in March, but were included the day the card launched.
From the time the card debuted, all Apple purchases with Apple Pay have qualified for 3% cash back, including at physical Apple stores, within the App Store and for Apple services
Apple notes that merchant offers can change at any time.
Current Apple Card rewards categories
Rewards | Categories |
|---|---|
3% cash back |
|
2% cash back | All other purchases made via Apple Pay. |
1% cash back | All purchases made with the physical Apple Card. |
Note that you must request the physical Apple Card separately. It allows you to buy at retailers that don't accept Apple Pay, but typically only purchases made via Apple Pay are eligible for bonus rewards.
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