The app doesn’t bother with complex in-store machinery or NFC or RFID chips in the phones, for obvious reasons. (Sorry, Nexus S users.) Instead, you just tap the number of your Starbucks Card into a free app and load the app up with funds from either your credit card or, for iPhone users, PayPal. When you’re ready to pay, your phone displays a QR code on screen, and the barista can scan it using a standard reader.

In effect, it makes your smartphone into a virtual version of your Starbucks card, saving you from carrying around another piece of plastic and giving you the ability to see your balance and add funds as necessary.

Apart from convenience to you, the customer, using a phone to pay should speed up the lines in-store. Especially as most of the people in front of me are already jabbering on their phones instead of actually paying any attention to the staff at the counter. Then again, maybe hunting for the Starbucks icon on your home screen will becom the new hunting for change in your wallet.

Mobile Payment Debuts Nationally at Starbucks [Starbucks]

Starbucks Card Mobile App for iPhone [Starbucks]

Starbucks Card Mobile App for BlackBerry [Starbucks]

Authors: Charlie Sorrel

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