Starbucks Expands Phone-In Payments

By Lucy Mitchell
Oct 25 2010

Earlier this year Starbucks launched a new system in 16 stores where customers could use their Blackberry smart phones to pay for their coffee orders. Today, the company has announced that they will expand on that service to more than 300 locations.

Furthermore, the company has increased the number of mobile devices that can be used.

The system, which works on the Starbucks Mobile Card App, has been popular with users since its launch. The expansion now allows customers who use Blackberries, iPhones and other smart phones to use the app to make their coffee purchases.

In order for the system to work a customer must have a reloadable Starbucks card and the supporting application on their smart phone. Besides making purchases with the phone, customers can also manage their account and recharge the cards right from the online menu.

However, many customers in the expanded areas are concerned that the mobile payments may slow down the already sluggish pace at the Starbucks locations during the rush periods. These concerns have been raised by those in New York where the system is set to launch today.

Company leaders have said that increasing the use of mobile applications is just another way that they are connecting with their customers. The company reports that nearly 20% of all transactions in US based locations take place with the Starbucks reloadable cards.

Starbucks has said that it will release a full list of the 300 additional locations for the new system later this week.