From January, Starbucks customers in the UK will be able to pay for their coffee by using an app on their iPhone.
US customers have been able to do so for nearly a year, and from 5th January 2012, UK Starbucks card holders will be able to link their cards to their iPhones and then pay with a single swipe of the barcode produced by their phone in one of 700 Starbucks.
Currently 20% of Starbucks customers use a card when making a purchase, and Starbucks will naturally be hoping this increases with the use of this new app.
There’s no word on whether their similar Android smartphone app is to be released for the UK market.
On a related note, it’s worth reading about the results of an experiment conducted earlier in the year, where a Starbucks customer gave out the details of his Starbucks card and saw some people take free coffee, others add funds and some even buy iPads with the card. The experiment was eventually shut down by Starbucks.