Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Starbucks Launches Mobile Payments

Seattle-based Starbucks said this morning that it has launched a new, mobile phone payment service at its stores, allowing customers to pay for drinks using their BlackBerry, iPhone, and iPod Touch. According to Starbucks, it has introduced a new Starbucks Card Mobile App which allows users to pay for items at the firm's 6,800 company operated stores and 1,000 Starbucks located at Target. The new app links a customer's Starbucks Card account, credit cards, and for iPhone users, Paypal. Customers pay for items by holding up their mobile device to a countertop scanner, which recognizes a barcode on the application. The mobile payment service has been in testing for a number of months at select stores.