If you want to buy some snacks, soda, or coffee late at night you can go to Circle K. It’s known for its 24-hour convenience stores and you’ll see them at many gas stations although it has stand-alone stores as well. Anyway, here are the payment methods that Circle K accepts.
Frequently Used Payment Methods at Circle K
Circle K | Cash | Large Bills | Personal Checks | Debit Card | Credit Card | Apple Pay | Google Pay | UnionPay | JCB | PayPal | Venmo |
In-store | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | ||||
Online | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No |
While Circle K stores are franchised stores, they usually have similar payment acceptance policies. These stores typically accept cash as well as major credit and debit cards. Additionally, you can use Apple Pay and Google Pay at Circle K’s in-store contactless payment terminals. This includes the convenience store’s self-checkout terminals, which are noteworthy because they can automatically identify the products you’re buying without scanning their bar codes. I haven’t seen any other stores that have this technology and it could speed up the checkout process if you’re in a hurry.
You can’t use PayPal by itself at Circle K but it may be possible to link your PayPal account to a mobile wallet and then use the mobile wallet’s tap-to-pay feature to pay at the store. Several of the premium gas station brands also have mobile apps that support Apple Pay and PayPal that you can use to pay for gas at the pump.
Even More Ways to Pay at Circle K
Circle K | Klarna | Affirm | Afterpay | Sezzle | Zip | PayPal Credit | EBT | Store Gift Card | Store Credit Card |
In-store | No | Yes | Yes | No | |||||
Online | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No |
You can’t use any BNPL apps at Circle K although that’s not surprising because it’s rare for convenience stores to accept BNPL in the first place. Stores that sell groceries, which include Circle K, are less willing to support this payment option and this might be because it may result in bad publicity for them. It’s controversial for shoppers to use installment plans to buy food. If you’re looking for an alternative, Chevron does accept Klarna and Zip, though.
There are also a few other payment options available at Circle K. You can use EBT to buy food at its stores but not online. This may change in the future because 7-Eleven now accepts EBT for online purchases in some locations, though. Additionally, Circle K has an Easy Pay card that’s linked to your bank account that gives you discounts on gas. It has traditional reloadable debit cards and fleet cards as well.
More Information to Know About Circle K
This is one of the major convenience store chains in the United States. Circle K sells a few unique items like its Froster slushy beverage but otherwise it stocks typical convenience store merchandise like coffee, beef jerky, nuts, and trail mix. Its stores also provide a few other amenities such as ATMs and microwaves that you can use to heat up packaged food like noodles. Like other convenience stores, Circle K is almost always open so you can go there if other grocery stores are closed.
Circle K isn’t owned by any fuel company so you’ll see its stores at many branded gas stations. You’re more likely to see them at Valero stations because Valero sold its convenience stores to Circle K, though. Many other oil and gas companies also prefer to focus on selling fuel to gas stations and don’t want to be distracted by managing convenience store franchises, so they’re happy to let Circle K manage the stores at their gas stations as well.
Stores Similar to Circle K Where You Can Also Use Apple Pay
Like Circle K, 7-Eleven has many convenience stores that are open 24/7. Many of these stores, but not all of them, are also attached to gas stations. They’re very useful if you’re traveling, out late at night, or up very early in the morning because you’re going to work.
The gas station chain Arco has ampm convenience stores at its gas stations. These stores are also open 24 hours and that’s why they’re called ampm stores.
The global energy company Shell also has gas stations in the US. These gas stations have convenience stores called Food Marts and they’re often 24-hour stores as well.
You can also visit Chevron gas stations and the Extra Mile convenience stores attached to them. Many of these stores are also 24-hour stores.
The energy company Mobil’s gas stations have Mobil Mart convenience stores that sell snacks and other products. Mobil Marts may also be open 24 hours.