Starbucks Coffee Co. began accepting Square’s mobile payment app today at about 7,000 U.S. stores, three months after the San Francisco startup landed the game-changing deal.
Until recently, Square, headed by Twitter inventor Jack Dorsey, was more widely known for creating a minimalist credit card reader that can be plugged into the headphone jack of an iPhone. But the company’s Square Wallet could have a greater impact on point of sale technology and how customers buy goods and services.
With Square Wallet, customers no longer need cash or a debit card. They just need their iPhone or Android device. Customers download the Square Wallet app to their iOS or Android device to set up an account, which links to their debit or credit card.
Starbucks already has its own app, which is integrated with the Starbucks card and the company’s rewards program. And according to Starbucks, customers use its app more than 2 million times each week.
Square Wallet, unlike the Starbucks app, doesn’t need to reload a balance. Customers just tap “pay here” and scan their QR code. Their digital receipt appears instantly, and the payment is pulled from their debit card account or charged to a credit card. In other words, it makes spending money a lot easier.
Other companies, including Google and Isis have jumped into the burgeoning field of mobile payments. The most established in this field, perhaps being PayPal.
Photo: Square
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