Contactless payment technology is moving beyond cards and smartphones as companies experiment with incorporating payments into everyday objects. Costa Coffee and Barclaycard are taking that concept directly to the coffee counter with the Clever Cup, a reusable cup containing a removable contactless payment chip powered by Barclaycard’s bPay technology.
The payment-enabled coffee cup combines two consumer trends: growing adoption of contactless payments and efforts to encourage reusable alternatives to disposable cups. Customers can use the cup not only at Costa Coffee but anywhere that accepts contactless payments, creating an unusual test of whether consumers will embrace payments embedded in everyday items.
Regular or decaf with you payment? Coffee drinkers at Costa Coffee will soon get an added pick-me-up with their daily coffee in the form of a contactless payment cup. As the following Finextra story reports, Barclaycard is providing some Costa Coffee cups with a payment enabling chip.
Barclaycard has joined forces with UK chain Costa Coffee to launch a reusable coffee cup with integrated contactless payments technology that enables users to pay for their caffeine with a wave of their mug.
Available in all Costa Coffee stores later this month, the Clever Cup costs £14.99, with a £1 donation from every sale going to the Costa Foundation.
The cup has a silicon base with a contactless chip that can be detached for ease of washing. Owners can use the cup to make purchases in Costa, or anywhere else that accepts contactless payments.
The cup is powered by Barclaycard’s bPay technology, meaning that users can track their spending, top up their balance, and take control to block or cancel the contactless payment element online or using the dedicated app.
Costa is rolling out a whole reusable range to encourage customers to ditch single-use takeaway cups.
Jason Cotta, MD, Costa Coffee, says: “Contactless technology has become increasingly prominent in our daily lives and through the launch of the new Costa / Barclaycard Clever Cup we hope to appeal to those tech-savvy customers to help facilitate and drive environmentally friendly behaviour.”
Contactless Payments Move Into Everyday Objects
UK-based Costa Coffee, recently acquired by Coca-Cola, is Europe’s largest java shop, and second in worldwide locations to Starbucks. As the contactless payment movement evolves, QSRs and fast-casual restaurants become prime territory to provide a speedy transaction process for in-a-hurry customers. Contactless payments are a growth opportunity for plastic cards as well as wearables such as watches. Whether coffee (and other beverage) drinkers take to this payment enabled cup remains to be seen. Will Starbucks be following suit?
Quick-service restaurants and coffee shops are natural environments for contactless payment technology because speed and convenience are particularly valuable during busy periods. Embedding payment capabilities into a reusable coffee cup takes that convenience a step further by allowing customers to make a purchase with an item they may already have in their hands.
Whether consumers will find a payment-enabled cup useful enough to adopt remains uncertain, particularly as contactless cards and wearable devices offer similar functionality. Still, the Costa Coffee Clever Cup demonstrates the range of products that can incorporate contactless payments as the technology becomes more widespread. If consumers respond positively, other restaurant and coffee brands could explore similar ways to combine payments with products customers use every day.
Overview by Raymond Pucci, Director, Credit Advisory Service at Mercator Advisory Group
