Starbucks announced yesterday that they’ve formed a partnership with Square, a processor of mobile payments. Starbucks invested 25 million dollars into the California-based startup, and signed an agreement with Square which should be bringing their mobile payment system into Starbucks stores.
There is more information about this partnership found at this PC World article, if you’re interested. The CEO of Square, Jack Dorsey, wrote an announcement letter that can be found here.
Personally, I’m still quite a fan of the Starbucks Card. I love the great new designs, and it’s easy to just always have the card with me.
By the way, notice this MyStarbucksIdea.com idea about “Advance Ordering/Payment.” It was almost immediately closed and put “under review.” I wonder if that is a glimpse of the future at Starbucks? Seems like Square might make that a reality.
How do you pay at Starbucks? Would you use this?
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I guess I am old fashioned and would continue to use my rewards cards. Do you think SB will eventually change the rewards system and not let people use their cards? I know mobile advances are always changing, but I sure hope some things stay the same.
I use the Android Starbucks App first, but sometimes it hangs or has other problems so I always have my primary Starbucks Card just in case, and because the card reader can also sometimes be fubar ( military slang terms ) I also have cash in reserve.
Technology is wonderful but you had better be prepared with a backup plan. Cash will always be king (well I do have a stockpile of toilet paper that will be worth more than gold at the apocalypse 😉 ).
Square is a real innovator. I hope the old school credit card transaction processing companies follow their lead rather than take them to court to try and protect their out of line transaction charges and exorbitant terminal lease charges.
This is a good move/partnership for Starbucks, one of their better business decisions IMHO.
I tend to use my registered card, but many times I leave the house without it (I don’t have a wallet). On those occasions where I don’t have my card with me, I use the app on my phone. I like the idea of having my payment and loyalty cards aggregated into a single place – a virtual type of wallet. I rarely have cash and put everything either on plastic or through a pre-paid card like my Starbucks card.
I also like the idea of ordering in advance. I do this with my Chipotle app, and back in the day, did it through the old-school order fax-in form Chipotle used to use. It would be very cool if they could use near field technology or something else to have the register recognize your mobile device when you entered the store.
@Purple1 – No, I think Starbucks will continue to have physical cards. It’s more likely (but still very very unlikely) that Starbucks would do away with accepting cash long before they did away with their physical cards. Fewer people use cash these days so that means more cards for people to carry, especially when you add in all of the supermarket loyalty-type cards and key ring fobs people have. Technology like mobile payments, helps eliminate the need to physically carry lots of cards and key fobs. Cash works everywhere, your Starbucks card not so much, so having a central repository makes sense for some like me who don’t like the idea of using cash.
I LOVE my Starbucks app on the iPhone as I do not normally carry cash, but have my Starbucks card and debit card in my wallet as a back-up. Never had any trouble, but it’s always a good idea to have a bac-up plan 🙂 I have had my Starbucks ‘paradise’ themed card since 2006? and continue to carry it as my primary!
I use my S. card. re: high tech, etc, here’s an example of how BAD the ‘virtual’ world can be: My soon-to-be 92 y.o. Mom had to go for her driver’s license renewal. (every yr a driver’s test in Ill. after age 85) She gets there, with my sister, and of course her current license….the d.l dept tells her there’s some ‘glitch’ in their computer system and this b.date on her license (don’t match) So, she can’t take the test until they go AND WAIT AGAIN at the Soc. Sec. dept, to get some proof of her bdate. Then back to take the test and get her renewed license. ONE LITTLE clerical error…and alot of running around and added anxiety. took a piece of PAPER to correct….:((( (and running around in the city/burbs of Chicago is no small feat)
I think I am a bit confused. I use the iPhone mobile app to load my card and pay for my purchases at Starbucks. Why not encourage cardholders who use their green level and gold level cards to use the mobile app vs. Square? Is there a benefit using Square over the mobile app? I don’t understand.
Wow, the investment from Starbucks says a lot about the budding mobile-platforms industry. Still, I think many people (including myself) aren’t quite ready for pay-by-smart-phones yet, but it might get there soon! There’s still so much to work out about in terms of marketing secure payments and its usefulness. Square has gained a major client in SB, and this could definitely hint at where the technology is headed.
But, for the time being, you’re right; the designs on the SB cards are pretty cool.
Since I’m in Iowa, our locally owned and independent coffee shops use DWOLLA to pay. otherwise, i’m with you. the starbucks cards are handy, but maybe we are just trained animals. i also picked up a mypanera card, and i like that it’s a membership card, unpredictable perks, and no cash. I do panic when I lose a starbucks cards because it is cash.
Here’s an interesting thought: What if you could use your Starbucks Card via Square at other retail establishments. What if you could buy your Refreshers at 7-11 or Safeway and pay for them with your Starbucks card via Square. And what if you earned stars for those purchases? And what if you used the card to pay for something that wasn’t even Starbucks related? And got stars for doing it? In essence, your Starbucks Card becomes a fee-free debit card of sorts and you’re rewarded for using it by being given stars for every so many purchases outside of Starbucks…Star Bucks.
Beyond Coffee indeed.
@Julia – if you register your SBUX card online, you can get your balance transferred to a new card if you lose your card – kind of an insurance perk for registering.
Thanks for the tip, @CD!
http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2012/08/09/wsj-video-schultz-and-dorsey-on-why-starbucks-needs-square/ – This is an incredible link. It has about a 17 minute interview with Howard Schultz and Jack Dorsey about this partnership. Really interesting. Starbucks is already processing over a million mobile payment each week. And by holiday season this year, Square will be launched in all stores.
CD – I don’t think it is unreasonable the idea that you could perhaps get stars at the grocery store for purchasing Starbucks-branded items and paying with a Starbucks card. Maybe it’s years away, but at one point, the idea was mentioned at an annual meeting – I think it was the 2010 annual meeting where some executive suggested that could be a future innovation.
@Julia – Always register every card to your Starbucks.com/card profile – you unlock the rewards by registering your cards, and then you can transfer balances between the cards, as CD said. 🙂
I’d use it, it sounds handy. But I’ll be sad if Starbucks ever phases out the good old fashioned Starbucks cards! I love collecting them and I get really excited when new designs roll out for different seasons and holidays! 🙂
I like giving and receiving Starbucks gift cards for many occasions. It will be a sad day if that option leaves. I pay with my registered gift card and love seeing the new designs.
@BeckyE – I totally understand that feeling. In the past, I did giveaways on twitter (I haven’t done this in a long while) where I’d give a $5 Starbucks gift card if you left a blog comment – Sometimes I’d go out of my way to get the exclusive Pike Place Store or Evolution Fresh gift cards, but many people didn’t want a physical card mailed to them. Many people only wanted me to load money online. That was an interesting lesson for me.
I have many of my old starbucks cards, i sort of want to find a frame and hang them as a crazy collage.
I use my android app most often at starbucks, so I’ll likely stick to that to get points (and better track my starbucks spend)
I think its a great idea though as I have been stuck without my wallet at times and would love to be able to pay more places with my phone!
I had the Starbucks card app on my phone for a while but I never used it for making a purchase. I used it just to check my card balance. I guess I’m old school as I prefer to use my physical Gold Card for all my transactions. I read the article links you provided and while I do like the progressive forward move in payment functions I’m not sure how much I will actually use it. Though if I understood the picture and article clearly it seems like Square would have your Starbucks card info on there so it would be like using the existing Starbucks Card App? Or is it just going to be strictly using your registered credit card info? If it’s wanting to register my credit card info I don’t know if I’d want to do that. Personally I try to limit how much I register my credit card info places. Hard to do in this day and age but still. Like others have mentioned here before me I’m hoping they don’t phase out the Gold Card.