Recently you may have started to see people like me using their phones to pay for coffee at Starbucks outlets in the UK.
This is a very simple procedure using the iPhone app or Android app.
UPDATE JULY 2012: The Android Starbucks app is now available in the UK. For Blackberry users you will need to follow my steps below.
If however you have a Blackberry, you can only look on in frustration if you are a plastic Starbucks card holder knowing that it will take 4-5 scans of your (outdated) magnetic strip technology to pay for your coffee.
Fear no more! I have found a foolproof way of getting the Starbucks mobile card experience onto your non-iPhone.
4 simple steps (assuming you have an iPad, iPhone or Android)
- Grab the Starbucks iPhone app on your iPad from the app store (or from Google Play if you also have an Android).
- Enter your Starbucks card number into the app so that it allows you to display the card’s barcode (it will look like this)
3. Take a screenshot of the barcode (hold bottom button and power button at same time on the iPad)
- Email yourself the screenshot, trim to just show the barcode image and show the barcode as a picture using the picture viewer to the scanner in the store – this works!
I’ve had multiple Baristas ask how I got the Starbucks card Blackberry app – now you know!