Grocery prices have been rising recently, so if you want to save money on groceries you might want to visit this store. You can think of Aldi as the discount store version of Trader Joe’s. Like Trader Joe’s, this grocery store primarily sells private-label products and is very efficient. But Aldi is a discount store and not a health-food store so it has very low prices.
In fact, this store might have lower per-unit prices than any other grocery store, including other deep discount stores and variety stores. As you might expect, it has a sizable fan base in Southern California because of that. The trade-off is that this store mostly sells its own products so you might not find your favorite national brands there. Here are the payment methods you can use at Aldi.
Does Aldi Accept Major Credit Cards?
Aldi accepts Visa, Mastercard, Discover, and American Express cards. While there are still a few discount grocery stores that don’t accept credit cards because they want to keep their prices low, Aldi began accepting credit cards in 2015.
Aldi also accepts cash, although its self-checkout machines may not accept cash. That’s normal and other supermarkets may have self-checkouts that only accept payment cards as well. Aldi accepts $50 and $100 bills as well but might not accept them if the register doesn’t have enough change available to break them.
Does Aldi Accept Mobile Payment Methods?
Aldi accepts Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, and other contactless payment methods for in-store purchases. Its self-checkout machines also support tap-to-pay.
Aldi also has mobile apps for the iPhone and Android that support in-store pickup and delivery orders. It has a partnership with the third-party delivery service Instacart. This grocery store accepts Apple Pay and Google Pay for online orders but doesn’t accept PayPal.
Does Aldi Accept International Payment Methods?
Because Aldi accepts Discover cards, it’s likely that it can accept JCB, UnionPay, and RuPay global cards by processing them through the Discover network.
Does Aldi Accept EBT?
Aldi accepts EBT for in-store purchases of qualifying items. Like other grocery stores, it sells some non-food products that you can’t buy with this form of payment.
Aldi also participates in the SNAP online purchasing pilot program so you can also use EBT to order groceries from its website and its mobile apps. This option is available at many other grocery stores as well, but not all of them.
Does Aldi Accept Buy Now, Pay Later?
You can use Sezzle to shop at Aldi. This supermarket also accepts Klarna in Germany but might not accept it in the US. It doesn’t accept Affirm, Afterpay, or Zip.
Does Aldi Have Its Own Payment Methods?
Aldi also sells branded gift cards. It doesn’t have a store credit card, but other grocery stores usually don’t have store credit cards either. And like other grocery stores, it may also sell gift cards from third-party retailers at its stores.
Aldi accepts split payment at its stores as well so you can use gift cards in combination with another form of payment there. And unlike some other grocery stores, its self-checkout machines also support split payment.
What’s Another Useful Fact About Aldi?
You have to deposit a quarter to check out a shopping cart from Aldi, although you get back your quarter when you return your cart. This is noteworthy because the other grocery stores in Southern California don’t require a deposit to use their shopping carts. Again, Aldi is highly efficient and this fee allows it to have its employees do other work besides collecting carts in the parking lot.
What Are Alternatives to Aldi That Accept Apple Pay?
Grocery Outlet is another grocery store that has very low prices. It uses the outlet store model so it stocks lots of branded products but its merchandise selection depends on what’s available.
Food 4 Less is a warehouse-style grocery store that’s owned by Kroger in Southern California. That means that it stocks Kroger’s high-quality private-label products.
Dollar Tree is a dollar store or variety store that sells groceries as well as other merchandise such as home goods. It also provides some financial services.
99 Cents Only is another deep discount store that sells groceries as well as other products such as toys and household decorations.
Big Lots is another big-box discount store that sells groceries for low prices. It also sells other products, including furniture.
Superior Grocers is a regional association of grocery stores that offer a large variety of groceries for low prices.