Starbucks Accelerates Mobile Payments

Starbucks Coffee Company, with its leading mobile payment platform, and Square have announced a broad innovative partnership to bring the best possible payment experience to both sides of the Starbucks counter.

 

The partnership terms include:

• Customers will be able to use Pay with Square, Square’s payer application, from participating company operated U.S. Starbucks stores later this fall, and find nearby Starbucks locations within Square Directory;
 

• Square will process Starbucks U.S. credit and debit card transactions, which will significantly expand Square’s scale and accelerate the benefits to businesses on the Square platform, especially small businesses, while reducing Starbucks payment processing costs;
 

• Using Square Directory, Starbucks customers will be able to discover local Square businesses -- from specialty retailers to crafts businesses -- from within a variety of Starbucks digital platforms, including the Starbucks Digital Network and eventually the Starbucks mobile payment application;
 

• Starbucks will invest $25 million in Square as part of the company’s Series D financing round;

• Starbucks chairman, president and ceo Howard Schultz will join Square’s Board of Directors.

 

By accepting Pay with Square, Starbucks is giving millions of customers another way to enjoy a quick and seamless payment experience at approximately 7,000 Starbucks stores. The partnership will also accelerate the ability of small businesses to grow with Square’s innovative technology and a stronger and more widely available Square network.

 

Beginning this fall, in addition to the existing iPhone® and Android™ Starbucks mobile payment applications, Starbucks customers will be able to use Pay with Square to pay for their purchases at participating company operated Starbucks locations in the U.S. Customers simply need to download the Pay with Square application and set up an account on their iPhone® or Android™ device.

 

More than two-thirds of the 27 million small businesses in the U.S. currently do not accept credit or debit cards, in large part because of the expensive interchange fees associated with payment processing, cumbersome application process and required credit checks. Square enables merchants of any size – from sole proprietors to national retailers – to accept credit and debit cards.