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Starbucks announces Square, Passbook support

Starbucks provided additional details on the company's recent deal with Square and updates to its mobile payment app at the company's annual Leadership Conference in Houston.

According to a press statement, Starbucks CEO, Howard Schultz, and Square chief, Jack Dorsey, announced that Starbucks customers will be able to start using Square's mobile wallet to pay for purchases in U.S. Starbucks stores beginning in early November. Those purchases will be routed through the credit or debit cards users have connected to their Pay with Square accounts and will let those users pay by name. The only drawback is that using Pay with Square will not track Starbucks rewards points.

Along with making payments, Square users will also be able to search 7,000 Starbucks locations using Square's directory of local businesses.

"Starbucks and Square share a passion for constantly improving the customer experience," said Dorsey. "This partnership gives millions of Starbucks customers a quick, seamless payment experience and introduces them to hundreds of thousands of small businesses in the Square directory."

Another change to Starbucks payment app is immediate support for Apple's Passbook application. Customers with iOS devices can add their Starbucks accounts to Apple's Passbook app. Passbook support includes paying for purchases as well as tracking loyalty rewards. Additionally, the app will highlight the Starbucks payment account in the device's lock screen whenever the user enters a Starbucks location.

Starbucks also has addressed an issue that mobile payment users have had with the app — how to tip if they're not carrying cash. The new version of Starbucks mobile payment app will now let app users add a gratuity to an order before paying.

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