I would like to think that this new way to pay with square really hits off. I use this app on my android phone and I like it but not a lot of places in NC were I live use it. Now on the other hand as a merchant I love how it is easy and a small % charged per transaction. The only thing about this app and Starbucks is that I guess you would need to use the Starbucks Gold card I have which is the rewards card as the payment for the purchase to get my rewards. I am not sure how that is working out sense I have not had the chance to use it at a Starbucks yet. I can easily use the app that Starbucks has on my phone so not sure If I would need to use the Square one but it is great idea. I will say if I forget my phone I will go home for it but I have forgot my wallet and I don't go back for it. So that be nice to be able to use my phone to pay for everything.
Very interesting way of looking at it, Alison. I never thought about the iPhone being more secure because of that but it makes total sense. People will freak if they lose their phone for even a moment, but a credit card is so easy to misplace or lose altogether and I've known people who have gone months without ever knowing a credit card was gone because they use it/them that little. Just comes to show you how much our society is changing and our dependence upon technology is growing, I suppose.
In a way, I think my smartphone is more secure than my credit card. The reason? I would know almost immediately if I lost my iPhone whereas I really wouldn't know if someone stole one of my credit cards or set up a card using my info and a fraudulent address. If someone steals my phone, I have two or three systems installed whereby I can immediately render it useless. I can phone Verizon and have them freeze it. I can use Lookout. Or there's another service on there that will, basically, self-destruct the phone. So I'd almost rather use a phone-based digital wallet than traditional plastic, and hope more retailers offer this capability soon.
This is an encouraging news. We consider our phones personal and private, there is no better candidate to be a digital wallet than our phones. Security concerns will eventually fade away, NFC, passbook, and any type of digital wallet technologies can be as secure as we want. Starbucks has a right step in the right direction.
I've been struggling to figure out why consumers would want to use mobile payments. Seems to me that cash and credit cards are already mighty convenient.
This is one case where it makes sense. Starbucks purchases are habitual purchases; consumers buy the same thing every day. Anything that can be done to automate the process will increase customer satisfaction and reduce transaction times.
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