Starbucks launches nationwide mobile payment service
21 January, 2011
category: NFC
Starbucks is rolling out a new mobile payment service that allows customers to load credit onto their smart phones to pay for drinks, according to FoneHome.co.uk.
Available to iPhone, iPod Touch and Blackberry users in the U.S., the Starbucks Mobile app requires customers to enter their Starbucks Card number, which can be loaded with credit from their debit accounts, credit cards or Paypal, onto their phone. At the register, the customer selects the “Touch to Pay” option, prompting the phone to produce a bar code that the barista then scans to complete the purchase.
While the new system does not use NFC, FoneHome argues that it does lay the groundwork for NFC’s arrival, since Starbucks’ program is essentially a more roundabout way of doing what NFC can do quicker.
The rollout will involve nearly 6,800 Starbucks stores nationwide, many of which were involved in a pilot of the new service conducted last year.
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