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iPhone app to pay for Starbucks orders in UK

Customers of Starbucks in the UK will soon be able to pay for coffee via their iPhone or iPods as the chain has become increasingly frustrated by the rate of near field communications (NFC) developments.

The company wants to develop its own mobile payment methods via iPhone apps due to the lack of NFC-friendly handsets. Customers with registered Starbucks Reward Cards will be able to make purchases across UK stores via the click of a button from January 2012. An Android app is also being developed for the start of beginning year.

The technology has already been introduced in the US with Starbucks claiming that 20 million payments have been made via the new method. The chain says that one in five of its customers do not pay by cash and the process will speed up the transaction process.

“There’s no doubt that mobile payments are going to be the future of shopping, but it’s not clear how it’s going to develop,” says Starbucks vice-president of marketing and category in the UK Brian Waring. “We just didn’t want to wait. Ours is so simple and it enhances the whole experience for customers."

Dean Kelly, London