Using Starbucks Mobile Card application for my first "in-store" mobile payment...could've been better!

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Like many of you, I’ve used various mobile web and on-device applications on my iPhone to find stores, look up product information, do price comparisons, and even to make a couple of purchases.  What I hadn’t yet done, at least until today, was use my iPhone to make a mobile payment at the register in a retail store.

Yesterday, I saw an article on CNN that Starbucks was rolling out support for mobile payments via an iPhone application to all Starbucks locations.  In the article, Starbucks said they had decided not to wait for widespread NFC support to launch mobile payments as customers had expressed interest in mobile payments now.  They also claimed that in comparison testing, using the Starbucks ‘Mobile Card’ application was the fastest way for their customers to pay.  Naturally, I decided that my next coffee was going to be purchased using the Starbucks iPhone application. 

Only, it wasn’t quite so easy.  First, instead of the mobile payment feature being added to the ‘Starbucks’ application already on my iPhone, I had to go and download a new Starbucks ‘Mobile Card’ application.  Admittedly, I had only used the original Starbucks application once after finding it incredibly sluggish and having no real interest in knowing how many calories are in a non-fat latte.  Anyway, installing the ‘Mobile Card’ application was quick and easy. 

It got less easy after that.  I’ll leave out the details from the 15 minutes it took to get the Starbucks card that had been languishing in my wallet with $.93 registered with the application. After adding $15 to it (online), I was ready for my first purchase.

This morning, as I walked to the Starbucks near my office on ice-covered sidewalks in 18F weather, I was looking forward to using the new Starbucks ‘Mobile Card’ application to pay for my Venti Bold Coffee.

There was only one person in front of me, so I quickly pulled up the application so I would be ready to pay. Only my iPhone wanted me to register on the ATT WIFI hotspot. When I hit cancel to stay on AT&T’s 3G network, the Mobile Card application died. After repeating this process 4 times and asking Dan behind the counter to go ahead and help the person behind me, the application finally decided to stay up and I was ready to go.  I ordered my coffee and while Dan filled my cup, I pressed the ‘touch to pay’ button and the application displayed a barcode with my Starbuck’s card number on it. NOW, I was ready to pay. (Note to Starbucks: why not have the barcode display when I open the application so I don’t have to press ‘touch to pay’ and then ‘touch when done’ to go back?).

Anyway, Dan held my iPhone to his scanner and announced it had worked.  I hit the ‘touch when done’ button, the application reverted to the main screen and automatically updated my balance. I had completed my first mobile payment!

Unfortunately, the 10 people now waiting in line behind me weren’t nearly as excited as I was.  I can’t help but think that NFC will make the experience faster and simpler.

As an aside, as I sipped coffee on the way back to my office, I launched the application again to double check the balance. I was presented with an ad saying that if I use a Visa card to add $25 to my Mobile Card, I’ll get an extra $5 credit ‘while supplies last. See terms of use’.  I clicked on the ad to see the terms of use and nothing happened.  

So, while it wasn’t the best user experience and the application could certainly use some improvements, I’m sure I’ll be standing in Starbucks ready to pay with my Mobile Card again tomorrow…you might want to get there before me!