Starbucks Mobile App Payment Will Expand to U.K., Ireland

Following success in the United States, Starbucks will introduce its mobile payment app for more than 700 stores across the United Kingdom and Ireland beginning next month.

Customers in the UK and Ireland will be able to use the mobile app starting Jan. 5, 2012. Starbucks has said the payment plan has the ability to reduce transaction time by up to 10 seconds.

The company took the expansion step after success in the U.S., where it introduced the app in January that allows a customer on an iPhone, iPod touch, Android or select BlackBerry models to pay at a store and reload his or her card.

Mobile payment is just one example of how we're continually innovating on behalf of our customers to enhance the Starbucks Experience, said Brady Brewer, vice president of Starbucks Card and Brand Loyalty, when the company introduced the program in the U.S.

A growing segment of our customers use smartphones, and through the Starbucks Card Mobile App, we're providing them with the fastest way to pay.

The program has been well-received at home. In July, Starbucks expanded the app to more than 9,000 stores in the U.S., driven by consumer interest.

In November, on a conference call discussing earnings, the company said it had processed more than 20 million transactions through the app this year.

By bringing it to the U.K. and Ireland, Starbucks will expand the program's reach on a global scale.

Customers want to be served quickly, but fewer want to use cash, said Brian Waring, Starbucks UK and Ireland vice president of marketing, in a statement.

We wanted to find a way for them to pay in the quickest way possible. Because our customers want it, we have created our own custom-built mobile payment technology rather than waiting for the near field communication technology, which is currently not widely available.

We're always thinking of new ways to add value to our customers and give them more reasons to choose Starbucks.