After officially coming together three months ago, Starbucks is done brewing and it’s taken its relationship with Square to the next level after making the mobile payment service available in 7,000 of its coffee shops across the U.S. – the very first joint rollout.
The coming together, which saw the coffee giant invest $25 million in the startup founded by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, will greatly raise the visibility of Square’s mobile payment terminals among the mainstream American public. Further U.S. stores will be come aboard soon.
The two companies have revealed that more than 2 million customers per week currently use Square and/or Starbucks’ own payment app to buy their coffee, and it seems likely that we can expect that figure to swell as the firms join forces.
The Square app for Starbucks is not just about making payments, and it can be used to explore and discover nearby business, check out menus, store opening times and other information from a mobile device. Dorsey himself gave a glimpse of what iOS and Android owners can expect, when he tweeted the following:
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Starbucks is now on Square! Get your wallet and buy a coffee: squareup.com/wallet twitter.com/jack/status/26…
— Jack Dorsey (@jack) November 8, 2012
“Starbucks believes in the values and vision of Square, and just three months after announcing our partnership with Square, we are thrilled to make the convenience of paying with the Square Wallet app available to our customers starting today,” said Adam Brotman, Starbucks chief digital officer.
The tie-in will also see the in-store Starbucks Digital Network feature the Square directory, which will further help customers discover other neighbouring businesses via the mobile payment app.
Here’s what Dorsey said back in August when the Starbucks-Square union — which CEO Howard Schultz join the mobile startup’s board — was announced:
“We’re proud that Starbucks chose Square, as we share the value of always putting customers first. More than 2 million individuals and businesses can already use Square. This partnership will accelerate our ability to provide them with the tools they need to grow their business and thrive in today’s economy.”
Square’s latest round, which included the $25 million injection from Starbucks, valued it at $3.25 billion.
Headline image via Paul J. Richards / AFP / Getty, photo of Square reader via cdharrison / Flickr
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