How to Add Payment Method to Apple ID on iPhone & iPad

Do you want to add a new credit card to your Apple ID account? Maybe you want to change which card is used as a billing method, or perhaps, you may want to have a second payment method as a backup? Fortunately, you can do easily add and change payment methods related to your Apple ID, right from your iPhone or iPad, and all within a matter of minutes.

An Apple ID is basically your gateway to the Apple online universe, and having a valid payment method is required if you plan to purchase apps from the App Store, or subscribe to iCloud, Apple Music, Apple Arcade, Apple Fitness, or other services. It’s possible you already linked a payment method when you first created your Apple ID, but if you got a new credit card that you want to use for purchases, you’ll need to add it manually. (And for a quick side reference for those wondering, you can create an Apple ID without credit card info but by doing so you obviously can’t make any purchases with that account until there is a payment method associated with it).

This article will guide you through the steps to change or add a payment method to Apple ID on both the iPhone and iPad.

How to Add Payment Method to Apple ID on iPhone & iPad

Manually adding a new payment method whether it’s your credit card information or your PayPal account is a pretty simple and straightforward procedure on iOS and iPadOS devices. Just follow the steps below to get started.

1. Head over to “Settings” from the home screen of your iPhone or iPad.
   
   
2. In the settings menu, tap on your Apple ID name which is located right at the top.
   
   
3. Next, tap on “Payment & Shipping” which is located just above the Subscriptions option.
   
   
4. Here, you’ll be able to see your linked payment method if you have one. Tap on “Add Payment Method” to proceed.
   
   
5. Now, simply choose your preferred payment method and fill in all the required details like your credit card number, billing address, etc. Once you’re finished, tap on “Done” located at the top-right corner of the menu to save this information.
   
   

That’s it. As you can see, it’s easy to manually add a new payment method to your Apple ID right from your iPhone or iPad, and to change any payment method too.

You can follow the above steps if you haven’t added a valid payment method yet or even if you want to add multiple credit cards to your Apple ID, just in case if one of them fails to complete a transaction. Or perhaps you just like to have multiple cards on file for whatever reason, maybe one for personal and another for business, whatever works for you.

If you’re using a payment method that’s no longer valid or working, like an expired credit or debit card, you may want to learn how you can remove a linked payment method from your Apple account. This could also come in handy if you temporarily added a payment method on a family member’s iPhone or iPad to make some purchases or add funds to your Apple ID balance.

Are you setting up a new Apple account for one of your kids or for a public/general use device? In that case, you can create an Apple ID without even adding a credit card by simply trying to download a free app from the App Store. Of course without any payment method attached, any device using that Apple ID can’t buy anything from the Apple services or stores, but they’d be free to shop around on the web using their own data.

Were you able to add a new payment method to your Apple ID using your iPhone or iPad? Do you have multiple payment methods linked to your Apple account? Have you removed the invalid payment methods? Do you have any particular thoughts or experiences with these capabilities? Share your experiences in the comments section down below.