iPayYou Enables Bitcoin Payments to Starbucks’ Official App

By Rebecca Campbell for CryptocoinsNews

Seattle-based bitcoin wallet iPayYou has announced the launch of Bitcoin Direct to Starbucks, giving users and coffee lovers a new and easy way to pay with the digital currency.

Through the use of the new feature users of iPayYou can simply transfer bitcoin from their wallet to their Starbucks mobile app.

Speaking to CCN, Gene Kavner, founder and CEO of iPayYou, said that they are always looking for ways in which consumers can benefit from owning bitcoin.

Commerce in bitcoin is the holy grail of those who envision how this method of payment can benefit both consumers and merchants. Bitcoin Direct to Starbucks is just the latest innovation on our path to bring the value of bitcoin to consumers on an everyday basis.

To use Bitcoin Direct, users select an amount of funds to transfer, which then transfers the correct amount of bitcoin from a user’s iPayYou account into their Starbucks account. Once they connect to their Starbucks app, user’s will be able to see the corresponding funds, allowing people to pay with their app using bitcoin at any Starbucks location.

With over 25,000 Starbuck stores worldwide – and headquarters in Seattle – and over one million customers using the Starbucks Mobile Order and Pay program each month, teaming up with the coffee company was a no-brainer for iPayYou.

Kavner said that they hope more consumers will invest in bitcoin, hold bitcoin, and transact with bitcoin as a result.

Bitcoin Direct to Starbucks brings one of their favorite merchants closer to all bitcoin users. This is just the latest merchant that we have integrated with for bitcoin purchases; eventually, it is our goal for all merchants to accept bitcoin directly.

This latest update to the iPayYou platform follows the recent launch of iPayYou’s gift card integration, which allows bitcoin to be used to instantly purchase gift cards from retailers including Starbucks, Best Buy, and iTunes.

Bitcoin Expansion

Companies are realizing that for the bitcoin industry to successfully expand they need to reach out to the consumer in a user-friendly way. What better way, therefore, for them to achieve that then by connecting the digital currency to a popular franchise?

With people visiting a Starbucks store every day, connecting it to bitcoin is expected to help expand the industry further.

Kavner adds that this will attract more people to the digital currency, enabling new consumers who have never used it to give it a try, and that can only be a good thing.

First appeared at CCN