Starbucks May Be Moving Closer to Incorporating Blockchain, Accepting Cryptocurrency

While coffee enthusiasts chomp at the bits when they learn that Starbucks is unveiling a new blend, crypto enthusiasts get just as excited when they hear that the food and beverage retailer could be laying the groundwork to accept digital currencies as payments.

When Starbucks will start accepting cryptos like Bitcoin is anyone’s guess. However, based on its founder’s most recent comments, it looks to be fully examining doing so.

The question that won’t go away

This week, Howard Schultz, who is the Founder and Chairman of the chain, fielded questions about future crypto plans.

“I think Blockchain technology is probably the rails in which an integrated app at Starbucks will be sitting on top of.”

History of being on the cutting edge

For Starbucks to be considering how to incorporate Blockchain into its payment processes isn’t that much of a surprise. That’s because the coffee behemoth has a reputation for being willing to step into unchartered waters when it comes to technology.

For example, it was one of the first major retailers to employ technology that allows customers to make their purchases with their mobile phones.

It rolled out what it called the “nation's largest mobile payment program” in 2010. A year later, it boasted that its mobile transactions topped 26 million within the first year.

The program is based on a smartphone application with a Starbucks Card stored within the app.

From fledgling to maturity

When Starbucks’ app was created, Blockchain was in its infancy stages and there were few businesses incorporating it into their payment operations.

However, as the technology has grown to be more accepted in the mainstream, it’s opened the door for businesses to accept cryptos as payments. Still, there are challenges that businesses must address before accepting cryptos.

For example, when it comes to developing Blockchain technology and the decentralized payment applications that sit on top of it, there is a key goal that must be accomplished – improving user experience,notesFintech Finance.

“The reality is that major payment processing companies make the payment journey extremely easy in a way that crypto-services haven’t managed to do so yet. These incumbents also make these payments very fast and not restrictively expensive, something that cryptocurrencies have started to struggle with.”

This is because of the scalability, “the elephant in the room during any discussion about the future of Blockchain and cryptocurrencies,” according to Fintech Finance.

None of this seems lost on Schultz, who said in the interview that Starbucks has “always taken the long term” approach and will make decisions that are based on the company’s future performance.

While championing Blockchain, Schultz is less enthused about Bitcoin, and has said that he doesn’t believe that it is going to be a currency today or in the future.

During Starbucks’ January earnings call, Schultz said he believes that in order for cryptocurrencies to take hold as legitimate and trustworthy for consumers to use, there is at least one thing that must happen.

“The real question in any brick-and-mortar retailer these days is how do you become as relevant outside of your stores as you have inside? If you look at what we’ve accomplished to date and what we’re now talking about, the future of Starbucks domestically and around the world is our best days are in front of us.”