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The popular coffee conglomerate has decided to bring its mobile based payment service to British shores.

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Pay For Your Starbucks With Your iPhone

Pay For Your Starbucks With Your iPhone Starbucks has revealed an app for the iPhone that allows customers to pay for their order by using the phone, which may lead to other companies unveiling dozens more e-commerce applications.

Called the Starbucks Card Mobile App, it allows users to sync their prepaid Starbucks Card with the app and check their balance and purchase more credit if running low. Some stores even allow the app to be used to pay for Venti coffees and Frappuccinos.

The way the app works is that users select the “payment trial” function on the app, which then displays a QR code. The iPhone is scanned, the cost is deducted from the balance and the purchase is made.

Sixteen stores in Seattle and Silicon Valley will be participating in the trial. The reason for the location is due to high usage of iPhones and Starbucks Cards. The next step is for the programme to go nationwide and other retailers having similar apps.

Those who try out the app early can look forward to free coffee refills and two hours of free wifi.

Starbucks aren’t the only company at the moment trying to break in and dominate the “mobile phone wallet” market. Nokia is integrating a payment system into its phones and PayPal plan to introduce an offline service.

Whereas Starbucks have figured out a seemingly decent system, others have failed due to being cumbersome and requiring additional hardware, which puts people off.

In-store mobile phone payments won’t be popular straight away, which may hinder Starbucks’ scheme initially, as credit cards are still popular together with the risk of relying on your iPhone as a wallet, only to misplace it is a risk that’s too big to ignore.

But if the technology becomes more secure and other companies decide to try it out, it could prove to be beneficial for early adopters like Starbucks.

iPhone news posted by Marilyn on 01 October 2009

Stock Tickers: AAPL SBUX

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