Starbucks brings one-touch mobile payment to UK

Love coffee? Love Starbucks? Love your mobile phone? If that handset happens to be an iPhone (or even an iPod touch), you will soon be able to pay for your posh coffee with a swift swipe at the till – and NFC isn’t involved.

Yes, despite the rush to push and promote NFC services, the Starbucks system bypasses that and goes for something based around the Starbucks Card. According to FoodBev, from 5 January 2012, if you have a registered card you can link it to your Apple device to check the balance and pay for drinks and snacks. Just scan the unique barcode at the till and leave, saving you some valuable seconds and allowing you to show off a bit in the process.

Brian Waring, VP of marketing and category for Starbucks UK and Ireland said: ‘Customers want to be served quickly, but fewer want to use cash. We wanted to find a way for them to pay in the quickest way possible. Because our customers want it, we have created our own custom-​built mobile payment technology rather than waiting for the near field communication technology, which is currently not widely available. We’re always thinking of new ways to add value to our customers and give them more reasons to choose Starbucks.’

Seven hundred Starbucks outlets will get the technology, so there should be one near you if you want to try it out in a month or so.

Article from MobileChoiceUK.com