SEATTLE — Coffee drinkers can now start paying for their beverages and leave a tip too with an app on their phones.
Starbucks announced that it will be releasing an app that will allow customers to purchase their drinks and add a tip along with the payment, which the current app does not have.
KIRO 7 Eyewitness News reporter Deborah Horne spoke with Starbucks customers about the new feature.
“It’s a good feature, so you don’t have to separately pay for it. So that’s a good idea,” said Vidya Ramachandran.
“And people at Starbucks are great, and we want to tip them,” said another customer, Vernell Kranz.
Along with the new feature of adding tips, Starbucks will be joining with Square, which is a mobile payment company.
Square is providing a payment app that can be used wherever Square is accepted.
“I’m actually surprised they haven’t been doing that a lot longer,” said Salvatore Savago, who owns a hot dog stand. “And then you just take it, and hold it in front of the phone, and it scans it here.”
Savago told KIRO 7 that he began accepting mobile credit card payments at his stand a year ago.
“And within a week, my business completely doubled,” Savago said.
As for Starbucks, the new Square mobile app will be available next month.
The tipping app will be available next summer.
KIRO
