Mobile payment company Square has made a deal to process payments at Starbucks’ thousands of US locations beginning this fall. The coffee chain will also invest $25 million in Square. The deal is a big win for the two-year old company, which was started by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey. Square has grown in popularity with small and independent retailers over the last couple of years because its card reader allows them to cheaply and easily accept credit card payments using smartphones and iPads. But the partnership with Starbucks is a whole new ball game and might bring a huge amount of validation to Square and mobile payments in general. Little will change at first, but the two companies have big plans for the future. Besides just being able to pay with the Square app on your phone, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz sees a future where a sensor can detect that you have the app and allow you to pay without ever taking out your phone.
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