Mobile payments, does anyone use a smartphone as a credit card?

Discussion in 'Economics' started by S2007S, Aug 8, 2012.

  1. S2007S

    S2007S

    I really dont understand the concept of using your phone to make purchases at places like starbucks or your local grocery store. If I'm going to use my phone I might as well just use my credit card/debit card or cash instead....

    Schultz says, "paying with a mobile device offers consumers an easier way to pay"

    "People have their phone on them all the time, its a seamless transaction," Schultz said.

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    I dont think Mr schultz comprehends, why does using a mobile device make it easier to pay? I can use cash or a credit card just as quick.
    People have their wallet, credit/debit card and cash on them all the time as well, those are seamless transactions. We have been using the traditional method for how many hundreds of years. Taking your phone out and looking through hundreds of apps and dozens of folders is not a seamless transaction to me.



    Will Starbucks, Square Take Mobile Payments Mainstream?
    CNBC.com | August 08, 2012 | 02:16 PM EDT

    Starbucks is billing its recent partnership with Square as a "breakthrough deal for the marketplace," according to CEO Howard Schultz, hinting at how the company isn't waiting around for mobile payments to catch on with the broader public.

    The new partnership between Starbucks [ SBUX 45.29 -0.02 (-0.04%) ] and Square allows Starbucks customers to pay for their purchases using their mobile device. Starbucks will begin rolling out the new mobile payments feature this Fall and plans to offer payments via Square at all of its locations before the holiday season, Schultz said.

    Mobile payment platforms have been slow to catch on with many consumers. However, the deal may be just enough prod more into using their devices as portable checkout counter, Square CEO Jack Dorsey says.

    "I think its going to move faster than anyone expects," Dorsey said on CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" Wednesday. "You see this transition to mobile being a device to pay, and this is bringing it to the world in a major way."

    Basically, the customer uses the Square application to store their credit card information. When a customer wants to pay with their smartphone, they open the Square application, where a barcode will appear. The application then scans the barcode to pay at a Starbucks counter.

    Schultz said his company has been in conversation with numerous tech companies who have been "trying to crack the code on how to monetize mobile payments." He added that it wasn't until Starbucks started talking to Square that they realized mobile payments full potential.

    "As soon as we met Jack and Square, we realized there was an opportunity to significantly enhance the customer experience at Starbucks, differentiate ourselves from everybody else in the retail business," Schultz told CNBC's Squawk on the Street .

    Mobile payments make sense because smartphones are "clearly replacing many devices," and becoming the primary unit for many consumers, Schultz said.

    More than that, paying with a mobile device offers consumers an easier way to pay, he said.

    "People have their phone on them all the time, its a seamless transaction," Schultz said.

    Schultz didn't give estimates about adoption rates, but said that he expects customers who already use a Starbucks card — which is over 25 percent of the company's customer base — to "...migrate off the card on to the Square platform very quickly."

    —By CNBC.com’s Cadie Thompsonemail: tech@cnbc.com
     
  2. Thats the point...if you can pay with your phone, why ever bring cash or your credit card? Your phone is much safer as you can put a password on it so nobody can use it if it gets lost. Its much more convenient