Starbucks Coffee customers can now pay with cash, credit, Starbucks' mobile payment app, or Square Wallet, after the popular chain today began accepting the mobile payment application at 7,000 locations.
With Square Wallet, customers can pay and then explore other nearby businesses; browse the menu, store hours, and transaction history; and pay for their purchases with their smartphones. The option is an addition to Starbucks' mobile app, available for both Android and Apple devices, which are integrated with the Starbucks Card and My Starbucks Rewards programs, and are used more than 2 million times weekly, according to Starbucks.
To use Square Wallet, customers must download the app to their device and set up an account, which they link to their debit or credit cards. At the register, they tap "pay here," scan their QR code, and the digital receipt instantly appears. Consumers must run iOS 5 or above or Android 2.2 or above in order to use the software.
Expanding into a well established chain like Starbucks gives Square Wallet immediate access to millions of prospective customers. It also gives local small businesses the opportunity to be found by nearby patrons, said William Henderson, director of Square Wallet, in a statement:
Square Wallet gives Starbucks customers a way to discover small businesses in their neighborhood. We're excited to work with Starbucks to introduce a broad new group of people to the benefits of using Square.
Widespread adoption of smartphone payments has yet to take off. Consumer apathy over a new form of payment, security concerns, and a lack of retail partners have been blamed -- but the Starbucks partnership will likely add some spark to the market, spurring interest from consumers and other businesses.
There are many contenders in this space: Google, PayPal, LevelUp, and startup GoPago, among others. Square Wallet, backed by Twitter chairman Jack Dorsey, certainly is considered a heavyweight.
During a stroll through the mall recently, I noticed every kiosk employee seemed to have the Square Register attached to their smartphones, swiping credit and debit cards for every other customer transaction. When I bought a case for my new iPhone 5, the kiosk owner told me how much she liked the Square Register because of its pricing and its ease of use. No doubt, Square Wallet would be equally easy for her to adapt to and use at her busy small business -- but will she, and other retailers, add it before or after customers request it?
Starbucks may be one of the first large chains to pick a digital wallet partner, but it won't be the last. Midsized and enterprise consumer-facing companies should follow usage trends closely to determine which alternate payment systems emerge as shopper favorites. After all, one day cash may no longer be king, and the digital wallet may prevail.
Change is happening and fast in many parts of the world but in many ways fast adoption is not the norm. We still have many users on a simple phone or even still many without internet access. It will take time but we are headed in the right direction. My daughter studies via ipad and turns in all assignments online so the next generation will move us forward even faster
For a country that is so technologically advanced, the United States sure lacks in certain areas. Look at broadband for example. Europe has been paving the way for faster speeds but for some reason, we're failing to catch up. It's cool that Google is rolling out their own, which will finally match other countries but we're still a ways off from those speeds around our own country, unfortunately.
Your right with all the technology our phones can do it is surprising that we only do so little with them. I mean in Japan they are about ot have phones that can move when they ring and such as well as phones that might be able to be clear which will be amazing. But these are just speculations and maybe rumors but I believe we have the technology to do all that. The other thing is the new phones like hte Notes from Samsung that has a huge screen and can do so much to the new LG that can let you run two apps at the same time with one screen. That is something amazing and it has a quad processor. Plus the ability to take still pictures while taking a video in real live time.
Great resource, Thanks Ronnie. It's definitely a shame. We're in an era where smartphones rule our lives yet we can't even use their full potential yet. Hopefully now that everyone seems to own a smartphone these days, we'll start to see things change more rapidly and for the better.
I agree Alison. It's not very surprising; the U.S. lags a lot in certain areas of technology. It's not that the technology doesn't exist either, it's simply not catching up that is the problem. I too am not sure whether it boils down to the credit card companies or what, but it's time to move forward! :)
Well my license is in my wallet but normally when i realize I left it at home it is to late to go back for it. And your right we are so far behind in technology sense like you said they have been buying stuff from a vending machine in Japan for years and according to 3dcart
"Mobile commerce was introduced back in 1997 when Coca Cola installed the first two mobile phone enabled vending machines in Finland. They were able to send mobile payments to the vending machines via SMS text messages. It was in the same year and country that an mCommerce based banking service was introduced as well."
That shows how far behind we are and if you would like to know more you can read this site and it talks about the changes in the economy and the use of cell phones and the history of what it does.
We're definitely going to see more digital wallet options, although it has surprised me too, @JAdams, that the U.S. lags other nations in this area. I'm not sure if it's because the credit card and debit card providers are so well-entrenched here or whether there are other reasons, but it's certainly not because people don't have smartphones! With more consumers accustomed to making online payments, using our phones to pay the tab is a natural next-step.
If the thief knows what they are doing, especially with a sim-based phone, it's not too difficult at all. It's a good thing that a lot of newer phones have some pretty good security measures. Like how the iPhone can wipe your data after so many failed attempts. I'm not sure what android phones offer since I don't use one and never have, but I'd imagine there is something similar or maybe an app that could do it.
Cell phones are definitely a more secure payment option than credit cards. Mythbusters did an episode once on just how easy it is to get information off of a credit card. Not as easy to do with a phone that is secured.
Do you carry your license in your wallet? I'd go back for it at least for that :).
Here in the States, we are so behind on some of these advances. Countries like Japan have been using their phones for years to make purchases. Even at vending machines. It's only a matter of time before it finally catches on here and I for one thing its a brilliant idea. We use our phone for everything now, so why not for payments too?
I would have to agree if I had someone steal my wallet and take my credit card I may not know for a while till I needed that card but my phone like you said I would know right then. My phone goes with me everywhere and I normally have it in my front pocket or in my hand all the time. While I have lookout on my phone to render it useless via the wipe feature and then I have one that is to make it scream if someone tries to access it without the correct password after three tries. The bad thing is I have T-Mobile so the thief will have my phone by putting their sim card in it but they would have to do a factory reset on it to use it.
The ThinkerNet does not reflect the views of TechWeb. The ThinkerNet is an informal means of communication to members and visitors of the Internet Evolution site. Individual authors are chosen by Internet Evolution to blog. Neither Internet Evolution nor TechWeb assume responsibility for comments, claims, or opinions made by authors and ThinkerNet bloggers. They are no substitute for your own research and should not be relied upon for trading or any other purpose.
Facebook and Twitter are great for posting cat pictures. But are people really using social media for life-changing communications? Like, if a hurricane comes by and blows down their house?
In a standout presentation at the Jefferies 2013 Global Technology, Media & Telecom Conference in New York this week, the UK government talked about becoming a "very intelligent client."
A consumer business would have to be crazy or desperate to change call-center software in December, the peak of the holiday season. But that was exactly Positec's position.
To help enterprises deploy software faster for mobile, social, big-data, and cloud applications, IBM this week acquired development tools vendor UrbanCode.
Internet Explorer seems like a relic of the 90s, like parachute pants and Friends. But that's just me. I'm a Chrome guy, and before that I used Firefox.
Google Maps 6.0 helps users navigate indoor locations like IKEA and airports. While this sounds good, Nicole fears it will also breed dumber humans who bump into each other a lot, or something.
Google is reportedly working on a pair of Android glasses that will use a low-resolution built-in camera to monitor the world in real time and overlay information about locations, surrounding buildings, and friends who might be nearby. Interested?
Location-based services could be combined with ad malware to facilitate targeting of demographic groups such as young females, creating a safety and privacy risk.
A Verizon/Google tablet deal not only shows that tablets are now driving the hardware/software bus, they're also capable of building new alliances between old foes.
Telcos are falling over themselves to launch app stores – but are the app developers listening? Most telcos will need to do a lot more to engage their attention.
Tom wants a Google 'unlocked handset' for the holidays because he thinks they could just break the telco monopoly on handset distribution and thus empower the Internet as the driver of mobile broadband now and forever.
New York's Metropolitan Transit Authority is conducting a pilot test of digital kiosks to guide subway users to where they want to go more efficiently and at lower cost.
The whole Amazon.reader debate is a double-stupid. It's stupid to think that there's any e-book buyer who doesn't know Amazon's URL, and it was stupider to let ICANN launch the whole free-form TLD initiative to start with.
While NFC's original goal was to enhance mobile commerce applications, it is finding its way into a number of other uses, which is creating both opportunity as well as challenges for IT departments.
Enterprises would like to move to cloud computing but are hesitant because they are concerned about providers’ ability to secure company data. Here are some tips that help to ensure that if breaches occur, the business is not left holding the bag.
Edmunds separates customers into segments based on the info it collects on its site and from partners, and uses that to push out custom content, said Brian Baron, director of business analytics for Edmunds.com, at Predictive Analytics Innovation Summit.
The automotive website uses propensity modeling to target ads and customer registration forms, said Brian Baron, director of business analytics for Edmunds.com, at Predictive Analytics Innovation Summit.
Subsidized handsets, rather than locked handsets, should be the focus of regulators. We're not getting good deals, not fostering innovation, and weakening our power as buyers.
Expert Integrated Systems: Changing the Experience & Economics of IT In this e-book, we take an in-depth look at these expert integrated systems -- what they are, how they work, and how they have the potential to help CIOs achieve dramatic savings while restoring IT's role as business innovator. READ THIS eBOOK
your weekly update of news, analysis, and
opinion from Internet Evolution - FREE! REGISTER HERE
Wanted! Site Moderators Internet Evolution is looking for a handful of readers to help moderate the message boards on our site – as well as engaging in high-IQ conversation with the industry mavens on our thinkerNet blogosphere. The job comes with various perks, bags of kudos, and GIANT bragging rights. Interested?
To save this item to your list of favorite Internet Evolution content so you can find it later in your Profile page, click the "Save It" button next to the item.
Email This
