Burger King serving up mobile payments at US stores

20 Mar 2014

Fast-food chain Burger King is to introduce mobile payments in US restaurants, in an effort to whet the appetites of younger smartphone-toting customers.

Burger King Worldwide is to begin rolling out its mobile payments smartphone app next month, and more than 7,000 US locations should be ready to accept mobile payments in a few months, Bloomberg reported company spokesman Bryson Thornton as having said.

Burger King’s app will provide users with vouchers for deals, such as US$1 any-size drinks and free fries (chips), as well as facts on nutrition. To make payments with their mobile phones, users can load value onto a virtual card within the app.

“What younger consumers are looking for is the ability to use their phones to do everything,” Bloomberg reported Darren Tristano, executive vice-president at research firm Technomic Inc, as having said. “The cellphone has replaced the wallet.”

About 19pc of American consumers recently used a mobile device to place a delivery order or arrange to collect an order at a restaurant, a 2012 study by Technomic Inc suggests.

That percentage will probably increase as younger generations grow older, according to Technomic Inc.

Burger King image via Shutterstock

Tina Costanza was a journalist and sub-editor at Silicon Republic

editorial@siliconrepublic.com