Tag: mobile payments

The Seattle based coffee chain has been the prime example of how the transaction technology can be used.

According to a recent report that has been released by Starbucks, mobile payments made up a full 15 percent of the total revenue brought in by the café chain in the United States.

This was the statement that was made by the company with regards to its third quarter earnings.

The chief executive officer of the company, Howard Schultz, informed investors that the Starbucks mobile app currently boasts 12 million users in the United States and Canada. That represents an increase of about 2 million from what the figure had been within the second quarter earnings report. However, it was the increase in the number of mobile payments that still has everyone feeling quite impressed with the progress being made by the company.

Starbucks seems to have been able to overcome the mobile payments barriers that have halted the progress of others.

The third quarter report showed that there were six million mobile transactions processed every week in the United States. This was an increase of a full million over what the company was processing in its second quarter.

CEO Schultz also went on to point out that Starbucks intends to test a new feature that will become available in its mobile app during the fourth quarter, in which it will allow customers to order and pay for their purchases ahead of time, so that they can come in and pick them up. To start, this feature will be available only in a single major U.S. city, but if it proves successful, it will certainly expand from that point in the future.

There was not a great deal else revealed by Starbucks about previous comments that had been made with regards to white labeling its mobile application and loyalty program in order to allow them to be used by other retailers.

The company’s global chief strategy officer, Matt Ryan, explained that Starbucks is currently conducting a number of different active conversations with technology partners about the development of a program of that nature, but he did not expand on it with any further detail.

What is certain is that Starbucks can and is feeling strong about its mobile payments and commerce experiences, as Ryan stated that “We have absolute confidence in the nature of the opportunity.”

Apple appears to be making considerable steps toward smartphone based payments.

Patents, reports, and rumors are coming together to provide a continually increasing body of evident that suggests that the iPhone 6, which is expected to be released this fall, will include a mobile wallet to allow owners to be able to use their smartphones to pay for purchases.

This will make Apple a rather late entrant into the mobile payments market space.

Despite this fact, a mobile wallet in an i-device is likely to have a massive impact on the small but growing trend. Many people believe that this is the addition required to bring mobile payments into the mainstream. This may also help to encourage increased use of struggling services such as Isis and Google Wallet.

More evidence of a possible iPhone 6 mobile wallet was generated by Apple’s talks with Visa.

Reports have now been published that have indicated that Apple has entered into discussions with Visa as well as a number of other credit card companies regarding the creation of mobile payments partnerships.

If the electronics giant does go ahead with this technology, it would mean that users of its smartphones would be able to use their devices to be able to complete mobile transactions. Therefore, even when purchasing physical goods in brick and mortar retail stores, they will still be able to pay at the checkout counter using the device instead of a credit card.

At the same time a digital wallet would also give the upcoming iPhone’s users the opportunity to use that same type of transaction to pay for products that they purchase online and in apps. This would convert the smartphone into a direct connection to credit card companies for making payments. This could help consumers and retailers, alike, in being able to save money by avoiding the third party transaction processing fees that are paid in traditional credit card based purchases.

The main focus for Apple mobile wallets would be on security, as the company has reportedly added a secure hardware element to their upcoming devices, though it is unknown whether that will be based upon NFC technology or another option altogether.