Starbucks expands mobile payment testStarbucks expands mobile payment test

Lisa Jennings

Starbucks Corp. said Monday it would expand its test of a mobile-phone payment system to nearly 300 stores in New York City and in Long Island’s Nassau and Suffolk counties.

The Starbucks Card Mobile program is based on the launch of an application for select BlackBerry smart phones and Apple iPhones and iPod touch devices that allows guests to pay and manage their accounts by using their phones the same way they would use a loyalty card.

The company began testing the program late last year, and it is currently available in 16 Seattle and Northern California locations, as well as in about 1,000 Starbucks locations in Target retail stores.

“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 smart phones as their mobile wallets,” said Brady Brewer, vice president of the coffeehouse company's Starbucks Card and Loyalty division. “We’ve heard from all our customers on My Starbucks Idea that they want a faster, more convenient way to pay. Now we’re inviting New York City and Long Island to experience mobile payment and the fastest way to pay at Starbucks.”

Starbucks said it developed the app for select BlackBerries and iPhones because those are the devices used by more than 71 percent of their smart-phone-carrying customers.

Available through a free download, the app can be used for payment by using a barcode on the phone screen that can be scanned at the register. Customers also can use the app to reload their Starbucks Cards, check their rewards status and find a nearby store.

Starbucks said one in five in-store transactions are paid for with a Starbucks Card and customers are on track to load more than $1 billion on the loyalty cards this year. At the end of the third quarter, sales of cards were up 17 percent over the previous year, and reloads were up more than 59 percent.

The app is available on the BlackBerry series 8800, as well as BlackBerry Bold, BlackBerry Curve, BlackBerry Storm and Storm2, and BlackBerry Tour phones.

Seattle-based Starbucks operates or licenses 16,737 locations worldwide.

Contact Lisa Jennings at [email protected].