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Starbucks introduces mobile payment for coffee
By siliconindia
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Thursday, 20 January 2011, 18:41 IST
New York: Starbucks, the U.S. based coffeehouse chain, has introduced mobile payments in its stores across the country. Users of BlackBerrys, iPhones and iPod Touches can now buy their coffee at any of the Starbucks store in U.S. through the devices.
What the owners of these gadgets need to do is download the Starbucks Card app, which is available for free, and hold their phones in front of the scanner in the cash register counters in the Starbucks store. The appropriate amount is deducted from the Starbucks accounts of the users. The account can be refilled with credit cards or PayPal funds.
Starbucks has 6,800 stores in U.S. and 1,000 more in the Target stores. The mobile payment system is applicable all across these stores, making this system of payment a nation-wide scale for the first time.
With a large customer base, the majority of them being smartphone users, Starbucks is trying to build brand loyalty among its customers through this step. Brady Brewer, Vice President, Starbucks said, "We're providing them with the fastest way to pay."
The Starbucks app also enables customers to locate nearby stores, check their account balance etc.
