Hasta La Gadget!

Americans have enjoyed the freedom to choose between Starbucks apps on both iOS and Android for over a year, and now the Google-flavored iteration is now finally going abroad, launching in both the UK and Canada today. The launch coincides with an app update for all users on the North American continent and across the pond. You’ll now be able to connect your phone to your Starbucks Card payment account, seek out nearby caffeine outlets and gleefully obsess over rewards and balances. The refresh also adds a widget for your presumably otherwise bare homescreen. This first global rollout now totals over 14,000 locations to use your Starbucks Card to pay, with PayPal functionality also rolled into both the US and Canadian iterations. Hit up the PR after the break for the nitty-gritty.

Continue reading Starbucks Android app gets caffeinated update, also launches in UK and Canada

Filed under: Cellphones, Software

Starbucks Android app gets caffeinated update, also launches in UK and Canada originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 Jul 2012 08:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The good ship T-Mobile isn’t staying anchored in any one port for mobile payments: just hours after the ink started drying on a deal with MasterCard for NFC, the carrier’s parent company Deutsche Telekom has confirmed to Bloomberg that it’s been talking with Google as well. While Deutsche Telekom’s innovation lead Thomas Kiessling hasn’t said more about a pact beyond its being “theoretically possible,” it’s not hard to do the math and picture Google Wallet coming into the equation if discussions go smoothly. Google won’t go so far as to comment on its own — not that the silence is stopping the would-be German partner, which is also chatting up banks and individual credit card firms to make sure everything falls into place. If it pans out, a Google alliance would certainly help T-Mobile fend off competition from Orange in Europe and give Google Wallet some much-needed support.

T-Mobile talking to Google about mobile payments in Europe as well, keeps playing the field originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 Jul 2012 00:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Another day, another mobile payments system, and this time it’s Deutsche Telekom and MasterCard inking a deal to roll out first a card/tag approach, followed by a true mobile wallet. The deal will see Poland get the system initially, later this year, followed by Germany; the initial system will use cards and tags for more low-tech payments, but in early 2013 that will be joined by a smartphone-based system.

Meanwhile, the mobile wallet service will also be thrown open to other issuing banks and partners, and both firms have broader European intentions that cover more of the carrier’s 93m mobile customers. The MasterCard product will be issued by ClickandBuy.

Unlike some systems, Deutsche Telekom and MasterCard will use a SIM-based approach for their mobile wallet. Functionality will include a text message receipt of each transaction, though we’re guessing that there’ll be some sort of phone app for checking balance and shopping history too, depending on platform. Coupons will definitely be supported, and the carrier will be installing NFC-enabled payment terminals in stores so as to boost the number of places the system is accepted.

Mobile payments continue to be the nut to crack, with various approaches to the marketplace. Google is reportedly working on its second-gen Wallet system, while Windows Phone 8 will include support for mobile payments over NFC. MasterCard is already working with other partners, most recently demonstrating the PayPass payment system on the Galaxy S II.

However, it could take Apple’s entry to the ecosystem to make a dent in it. The iPhone 5, expected to be launched later in 2012, is believed to include NFC for mobile payments.

MasterCard and Deutsche Telekom reveal Euro mobile payment plans is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

It seems like in this current environment, there is a brand new entry in the mobile credit card payment market every day. It started with Square, and now everyone wants a piece of the action. The latest one to enter the fray is mPowa, which admittedly does bring some functionality and accessibility that Square and others have failed to offer. It’s also cheaper.

Of course, the reality of competing against Square might prove problematic. So what are these enhanced benefits and features that mPowa offers? For starters, it not only allows customers to pay for purchases with a credit card, but it can also accept payments from customers who have a chip or PIN enabled payment method. In addition, its related app is available on Android and iPhone as well as Blackberry and Windows Phone.

The transaction fee is only 0.25% per purchase. “Our main focus are those businesses who already take cards but lack the mobile point of sale facilities to make transactions on the go, the Whirlpools or charities of the world. Now they can make home visits or collect money anywhere,” mPowa founder and CEO Dan Wagner said in an interview with TechCrunch.

[via TechCrunch]

Square’s newest competitor is mPowa is written by Mark Raby & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

With the big push behind Pay With Square (including the recent addition of deals), the announcement of Apple’s Passbook, and the looming mobile payment war, digital wallets are about to rise up in a big way. But without NFC, I just don’t see myself using any of them. Do any of you use ‘Pay With Square’ now? (Or do you plan to?) Is it really easier than cash or card? More »