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Jack Dorsey: Today Starbucks Signed up for Square

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Re: Jack Dorsey: Today Starbucks Signed up for Square

#131

Post by untog »

clamps123 wrote: post #123
seabee wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don't enter a PIN? That process easily makes it take longer than cash.

What? Perhaps if you have down syndrome, but otherwise takes around 5 seconds. Swipe card, enter 4 digit pin, press enter. Faster than it would take the cashier to type in the amount you just gave him, much less make change.

Down Syndrome? Really?

In any case, plenty of people do struggle with it- the old especially. But that's not the biggest factor. With a swipe everything is done by one person- the cashier. PIN entry requires a back and forth between customer and cashier, and I've seen plenty of cashiers not notice that the PIN entry has gone through, etc.

Re: Jack Dorsey: Today Starbucks Signed up for Square

#132

Post by teamonkey »

kayoone wrote: post #85
jevinskie wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Square will process Starbucks U.S. credit and debit card transactions": Wikipedia says that Starbucks has $11.7 billion in revenue every year. I would assume that a majority of that revenue is through a card. I am not familiar with Square's revenue but I feel that this will at least double their transactions. Am I correct?

Here in Europe (Germany) i have never seen anyone buying a coffee with a credit card. Maybe debit card, but that also is rare, its mostly cash for these small transactions. Most coffee shops dont even take any cards at all, even here in germany!

In the UK it's very common to pay with cards. It's even more cashless than the US or Canada, I feel.

Re: Jack Dorsey: Today Starbucks Signed up for Square

#133

Post by teamonkey »

seabee wrote: post #112
stonemetal wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My wife actually thinks it is rude to pay with cash or check when people are waiting behind you in line. Cards are the fastest way to pay, you don't even have to sign for purchases under a certain amount.

You don't enter a PIN? That process easily makes it take longer than cash.

Not for coffee-sized amounts at major coffee chains, no.

Re: Jack Dorsey: Today Starbucks Signed up for Square

#134

Post by whalesalad »

jusben1369 wrote: post #116
abalone wrote: post #115

Here's what's in it for Starbucks: Square's cheaper. Square loses money on transactions below $6. The reason is for the sake of simplicity they waive the per-transaction fee that Visa/Mastercard charges them and just charge a flat percentage of 2.75%. But even though this is a relatively high percentage, it's not enough to recoup the cost of the per-transaction fee at low transaction sizes. Take a $2 coffee charged t…

I would point out that it's unlikely SB's received the same financial terms offered to Mom and Pop vendors who sign up via the website.

Absolutely. This has got to be a huge partnership and I'm sure everything is going to be custom/branded. I'm anxious to see how Starbucks handles this. Will they use iPad kiosks that the user can interact with? Part of the Starbucks experience is being able to custom order a half-caf splash-of-cinnamon dolce latte with soy. Having a nifty UI to deliver that experience + an easy way to pay might be a good strategy. Will this tie in with their own Starbucks app so that I can order on my walk to Sbux, auto pay, and then walk out without waiting in line?

Re: Jack Dorsey: Today Starbucks Signed up for Square

#136

Post by brk »

pazimzadeh wrote: post #60
bobsy wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Question: Yesterday I saw you in Starbucks and heard you say "put it on John's tab". Today I see you are 2 behind me in the queue. What stops me from strolling up to the counter, big grin and saying... Put it on John's tab please? Wouldn't the proximity of your phone mean they would take the payment from you even though you haven't authorized it?

I'm pretty sure that a picture of the customer appears on the cashier's iPad app/register.

Ah!

So we're relying on the cashier to care deeply enough to do this validation.

Remember the phase when credit cards were being issued with a picture of the card holders face on the front? And all the stories about the card with a picture of a petite Indian female being used by a large white male to ring up purchases?

I like the concept of Square, and I'd like for this to work. But the cashier being a face-recognition gateway seems like a horrible idea.

Re: Jack Dorsey: Today Starbucks Signed up for Square

#137

Post by rayhano »

Once Starbucks are on the Square system, might that be the perfect opportunity for Square to flip a switch and ask customers for their bank details?

If Square could do a GoCardless with all those consumers that use Square, both Square and merchants could benefit massively...

Re: Jack Dorsey: Today Starbucks Signed up for Square

#138

Post by zecho »

mjw wrote: post #102
philip1209 wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "[. . . ] American Express (the card that plenty businesses hate) [ . . . ]" This is divergent, but I feel compelled to defend Amex here on the basis of quality of leads and consumer ethics, with the main contention being a higher processing fee for Amex relative to Visa and Mastercard. # Quality of leads "Amex cards account for approximately 24% of the total dollar volume of credit card transactions in the US, the…

"Amex cards account for approximately 24% of the total dollar volume of credit card transactions in the US" Personally I use amex for all large transactions because they give me a cut (I think around 0.5% cash equivalent?) in air miles, but don't usually bother with it for small transactions because I don't want to risk it being turned down, or take the piss with small merchants who might suffer from the processing f…

I always lead with my Amex, even if I know the place doesn't take it. Merchants need that kind of feedback from their customers. If they won't take Amex, I've got other cards, but I always prefer to use either my Amex or my Discover (another card with spotty acceptance).

Re: Jack Dorsey: Today Starbucks Signed up for Square

#139

Post by nchlswu »

jevinskie wrote: post #44
faramarz wrote: post #14

This announcement makes me happy, for Square and Jack Dorsey as a young business leader. I love everything about the business idea, execution, design and tone of the overall strategy. Noteworthy points from the press release The partnership terms include: - Customers will be able to use Pay with Square, Square’s payer application, from participating company operated U.S. Starbucks stores later this fall, and find nea…

"Square will process Starbucks U.S. credit and debit card transactions": Wikipedia says that Starbucks has $11.7 billion in revenue every year. I would assume that a majority of that revenue is through a card. I am not familiar with Square's revenue but I feel that this will at least double their transactions. Am I correct?

That seems like a reasonable assumption.

A lot of posters are forgetting that significant portion of Starbucks revenue isn't from beverages at the till. Starbucks sells a lot of coffee related goods and processes a lot of revenue for gift cards and their mobile payment app which they've had for quite a while (Apple recognized in iOS6 Cards).

I'm very curious if Square is going to handle all transactions that aren't at the physical point of sale. My gut feeling is that a big chunk of credit and debit revenue is for gift cards and gift card refills and that could impact your estimate.

Re: Jack Dorsey: Today Starbucks Signed up for Square

#140

Post by timjahn »

faramarz wrote: post #14

This announcement makes me happy, for Square and Jack Dorsey as a young business leader. I love everything about the business idea, execution, design and tone of the overall strategy. Noteworthy points from the press release The partnership terms include: - Customers will be able to use Pay with Square, Square’s payer application, from participating company operated U.S. Starbucks stores later this fall, and find nea…

" - Starbucks will invest $25 million in Square as part of the company’s Series D financing round;"

Wait, what? Is this Starbucks buying a slice of the decision making process to ensure things are generally in their favor?

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