McDonald’s Accepts Credit Cards

Plastic is now on the menu at McDonald’s as credit and debit cards are to be accepted in about 6,000 restaurants by year-end.

The QSR has signed agreements with Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover.

If McDonald’s franchisees previously wanted to accept credit or debit cards they had to individually negotiate agreements with credit card companies and banks because credit cards were also thought to slow down the payment process. All that has changed however, as new technology has made it possible to swipe the cards through faster than accepting cash.

Currently McDonald’s has no plans to launch co-branded credit or debit cards.

Happy Meal’s latest premium to celebrate its 25th anniversary

In other McD’s news, the QSR has teamed up with 4Kids Entertainment to celebrate the 25th birthday of the Happy Meal. The promotion will feature 12 breeds of the Artist Collection: The Dog-inspired plush toys in Happy Meals beginning April 2 through April 29 at participating restaurants nationwide. The dogs come in a collectable box.

The Dog is a puppy photography franchise from Japan consisting of more than 70 different breeds of puppies photographed with exaggerated proportions.

Each Happy Meal Dog features plastic collars that transform into clips, so children can clip their dog on backpacks, belts, zippers or purses. In addition, each dog comes with a McDonald’s hangtag with a picture of the dog and a collector’s checklist. The Dog is the first Happy Meal to be housed in McDonald’s new global package design launched in December.

National television spots were developed by Leo Burnett and Co. and Hispanic advertising by dRM DDB.