Starbucks takes prepaid mobile

Thursday, 11 November 2010

Pay for your coffee with a scan of your phone!

The article below about Starbucks’ recent launch of mobile payments in its coffee shops is a great case-study for prepaid. What makes this interesting is that a single closed-loop prepaid account is now supporting both card and phone redemptions and the contactless engagement is being driven by mobile versus card (which is still prohibitive for closed-loop in general). Moreover, it’s not yet another case of technology for technology’s sake - the customer gets the proposition and likes it!

New York City expansion to Starbucks mobile payment pilot

Coffee-drinkers in the New York City area can use mobile devices to pay at nearly 300 Starbucks locations in the city and in Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island. The pilot, which started in September 2009, enables consumers to scan a barcode on the display on their smartphones in place of swiping a traditional Starbucks Card reloadable prepaid card. The mobile app for BlackBerry, iPhone and iPod Touch enables users to pay and manage their Starbucks Card balances.

“Mobile technology is part of our customers’ daily routine and with the expansion of mobile payment in our test cities, we’re seeing more and more customers using their smartphones as their mobile wallets,” said Brady Brewer, vice president of Starbucks Card and Loyalty. "Now we’re inviting customers in New York City and Long Island to experience mobile payment and the fastest way to pay at Starbucks. Mobile is just one of the ways we continue to innovate and enhance the experience for our customers.”

Starbucks wouldn’t be rolling this out if it wasn’t successful. The fact that they are confirms that Starbucks customers want this facility.