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How to say 'by card', 'by phone' and 'by email' in Spanish

In English, one little word does almost all the work when you talk about how you pay or how you get in touch: you pay by card, by bank transfer, and you contact people by phone or by email. Spanish has no single equivalent. Instead, the preposition depends on the noun: you pay con tarjeta but en efectivo, you send a document por correo electrónico, and you chat por teléfono or por videollamada.

English speakers often reach for por every time, because it can mean "by" in other contexts. That works well for communication, but it can sound odd for cash. The good news is that the system is small, and a few fixed phrases cover almost everything you need at the shop, the bank or the office.

Word list
cartafA1 letter comunicar por carta = to communicate by letter celularmA1 mobile phone hablar por el celular = to talk on the cell phone internetA1 Internet comprar por internet = to buy online mensajemA1 message avisar por mensaje = to let someone know by text móvilmA1 mobile phone hablar por el móvil = to talk on the cell phone tarjeta de créditofA1 credit card pagar con tarjeta de crédito = to pay by credit card teléfonomA1 phone hablar por teléfono = to talk on the phone correo electrónicomA2 email enviar por correo electrónico = to send by email emailmA2 email enviar por email = to send by email tarjetafA2 card pagar con tarjeta = to pay by card teléfono celularmA2 mobile phone hablar por el teléfono celular = to talk on the cell phone teléfono móvilmA2 mobile phone hablar por el teléfono móvil = to talk on the cell phone videollamadafA2 video call hablar por videollamada = to talk by video call chatmB1 chat hablar por chat = to talk by chat, to chat online correomB1 mail enviar por correo = to send by mail dinero en efectivomB1 cash pagar con dinero en efectivo = to pay with cash efectivomB1 cash pagar en efectivo = to pay cash tarjeta de débitofB1 debit card pagar con tarjeta de débito = to pay by debit card metálicomB2 cash pagar en metálico = to pay cash transferencia bancariafB2 bank transfer pagar por transferencia bancaria = to pay by bank transfer transferencia de dinerofB2 bank transfer enviar por transferencia de dinero = to send by money transfer
How it works

Think of the means as falling into three groups, each with its own preposition:

Things you pay with

Cards take con ("with"): con tarjeta, con tarjeta de crédito.

The form the money takes

Cash takes en ("in"): en efectivo, en metálico.

Channels that carry something

Transfers, phones, mail and the internet take por ("through, via"): por transferencia, por teléfono, por correo, por internet.

A simple rule of thumb: if you could say "with" in English, use con. If you mean "in the form of" money, use en. If something travels through a channel to reach someone, use por. Notice also that Spanish usually drops the article, just as English does: pagar con tarjeta, not con la tarjeta, when you simply mean the method.

The words
Paying

For cards, con is the safe choice: tarjeta, tarjeta de crédito and tarjeta de débito all follow it.

¿Puedo pagar con tarjeta?
(Can I pay by card?)
Pagué el hotel con tarjeta de crédito.
(I paid for the hotel by credit card.)
Aquí solo aceptan pagos con tarjeta de débito.
(They only accept debit card payments here.)

Cash is different: efectivo and its more old-fashioned synonym metálico take en. Payment on the spot can also be al contado.

¿Paga en efectivo o con tarjeta?
(Are you paying cash or by card?)
El taxista quiere el dinero en metálico.
(The taxi driver wants the money in cash.)

Bank transfers move money through a channel, so transferencia bancaria and transferencia de dinero take por. In everyday speech people often just say por transferencia.

Te pago el alquiler por transferencia bancaria.
(I'll pay you the rent by bank transfer.)
Recibí el dinero por transferencia de dinero desde México.
(I received the money by money transfer from Mexico.)
Getting in touch

Almost every means of communication takes por: teléfono, móvil (Spain) or celular (Latin America), videollamada, mensaje, correo electrónico or simply email, ordinary correo, a carta, and internet.

Ayer hablé con mi madre por teléfono.
(Yesterday I spoke to my mother on the phone.)
Me lo dijo por el móvil mientras conducía.
(He told me on his cell phone while he was driving.)
Nos vemos todos los domingos por videollamada.
(We see each other every Sunday by video call.)
Te lo mando por correo electrónico.
(I'll send it to you by email.)
El banco me envió la tarjeta nueva por correo.
(The bank sent me the new card by mail.)
Compro casi toda la ropa por internet.
(I buy almost all my clothes online.)
Watch out

The typical mistake is pagar por efectivo. Cash is not a channel, so say en efectivo. Be careful with the longer phrase, though: if you add dinero, the logic switches to "with" and you say con dinero en efectivo.

These pairings are the most common choices, not iron laws. You will also hear pagar por tarjeta, mediante transferencia or con transferencia, and nobody will misunderstand you. With phones and the internet, the preposition can also change the meaning: por internet describes how something is done, while en internet says where something is (lo vi en internet, "I saw it on the internet"). In the same way, estar al teléfono means "to be on the phone". Finally, manner phrases such as a mano ("by hand") and en persona ("in person") are fixed expressions of their own, much like the transport phrases en autobús and a pie.

Summary

Don't translate "by" word for word. Cards go with con (con tarjeta), cash goes with en (en efectivo), and anything that travels through a channel goes with por: transfers, phones, video calls, messages, mail and the internet (por transferencia, por teléfono, por correo electrónico). Drop the article when you are simply naming the method.