Why Square-bucks (Starbucks & Square) makes sense

Need I say it again? Everyone’s going mobile. At last year’s Renegade Craft Fair in San Francisco, I wrote about how Square was changing the way that independent artisans and craft makers did business by using the mobile payment service to accept credit cards and sell their goods. One year later, its not uncommon to see the handy Square card reader accepted by small vendors all over the Bay Area. And no one has any qualms about whipping out their cards either.
Starbucks has been at the forefront of the mobile revolution for years now. Perhaps because of their varied customer base, the Seattle-based company been very consistent with their mobile offering. They have, for the record,  logged about 60 million mobile transactions in the last year or so. Not bad eh? So, Starbucks does know mobile, after all. But really, why re-invent the wheel?
Square burst onto the scene in 2010 and by all accounts is still very much a start-up. While they’ve gained traction with smaller businesses, the Starbucks partnership announced this morning puts Square “squarely” on the mobile payment map. Which, by the way everyone from Visa, Google, and PayPal have been trying to get a piece of. This is where things get interesting, folks.
The deal ensures that Starbucks, the worlds largest coffee chain, will use Square’s technology to process all credit and debit card transactions at their stores in the US. Square now, moves front and center as the race for mobile payment dominance  heats up. It also will also dominate the  discussion on mobile and its contribution to a cash-less society. Oh, did I forget to mention that as a part of the deal, Starbucks is investing $25 million of it’s cash into the pocket of Square’s skinny jeans? Yeah. Swipe that.
But dont throw your dollar bills out just yet. Mobile payments, while a big hit with younger consumers, is still a ways away from being adopted by the general population. Some say 3 to five years away. An eternity in ‘mobile years’. I think it’s fair to say that most Americans are concerned with the safety of mobile payments. But this bold move by Starbucks and Square will certainly help to accelerate things.