Starting March 19, there will be no need to fumble through your wallet for small bills or feel guilty about not leaving any tip for your Starbucks barista. The coffee chain announced that it will improve its mobile application, and will allow customers visiting stores to tip their baristas from their iPhone.
According to CNET, customers who order their lattes using the application will have the option of tipping their baristas from their iPhone. The application will suggest tip amounts on the transaction screen, allowing users to pick from $0.50, $1.00 and $2.00 tips. A "no tip" option will also be available.
Customers will be able to tip up to two hours after the transaction has taken place. The digital receipt will be updated with the tip amount. The mobile payment program accounts for more than 11 percent of in-store transactions.
Starbucks said in a statement that the app will work at any of its over 7,000 company-owned stores across the U.S., U.K., and Canada. Starbucks Chief Digital Officer Adam Brotman told CNET, that the new application will also give customers access to rewards, messages, and account history.
"We're really excited because tipping has been something our customers have been really asking for," Brotman said. "More and more customers...carry cash with them less and less these days. It's nice to be able to leave a tip for your barista and your store using mobile payment now on the iPhone app."
The idea originated from comments in the company's virtual suggestion box, MyStarbucksIdea.com. Starbucks mobile pay, which lets customers pay using a digital version of their Starbucks card on their smartphones, has been available for more than 3 years. Nearly 10 million customers have downloaded its apps, and Brotman said that the company gets about five million mobile payment transactions per week.
Along with the tipping option, Starbucks added a "Shake to Pay" feature, which will allow users to shake their phones in order to bring up their Starbucks Card's barcode on the screen at any time.
The Starbucks for iPhone application will be available on Apple's App Store on March 19. In addition, the company announced a redesigned Android version that will be released later this year.
A previous version of the application came under fire "for storing usernames and passwords in clear text," but the issue was later fixed. Brotman insists that the new iPhone app is secure. The application will not store credit card or payment information on the phone.
