Starbucks is investing $25 million in Square and plans to deploy its payment system in stores across the U.S., the companies announced today. The alliance will put Square card readers–still a novelty in most parts of the country–within view of millions of Starbucks customers, and introduce them to the Square iPhone and Android apps.
For Starbucks, which prides itself on customer satisfaction, it stands to strengthen the bond between barista and buyer. Starbucks will eventually deploy Square’s GPS tech to alert a Starbucks store when a customer with the Square app on their phone walks in, bringing up their photo ID and name at the till so that they don’t even need to swipe a credit card, the New York Times explains.
As part of the deal, Starbucks president Howard Schulz is joining Square’s board.
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