Starbucks Eyes Blockchain Technology For Payments According To Recent Hints From Chairman Howard Shultz

Recent statements made by Starbucks’ executive chairman Howard Shultz suggest that the company might be planning to venture into blockchain technology. The company executive was speaking during an interview with Maria Bartiromo of Fox when he stated that the company is thinking of venturing into blockchain technology as part of its plan to expand payments through a new payment app.

During the Fox Business segment, Shultz talked about a new payment app and the potential of a proprietary cryptocurrency. During the interview, he was asked whether Starbucks would incorporate blockchain technology into its system as it embraces the new payment rather than continuing with its current centralized system. His response hinted that the firm was most likely going to adopt blockchain technology.

This is what Shultz had to say about blockchain: "I think blockchain technology is probably the rails in which an integrated app at Starbucks will be sitting on top of,"

The positive statement about blockchain technology comes just a few weeks after the former CEO mentioned during an earnings call that the company had plans to take advantage of decentralized ledger technology to improve payments. However, he rubbished the idea of using bitcoin in any way. Schultz’s idea was that blockchain technology might be the ideal solution towards expanding the horizons of Starbucks’ digital customer relationships.

In one of his statements during the earnings call, he pointed out that blockchain technology is ushering in a new age that is characterized by digital currencies which offer a lot of convenience to consumers. The Starbucks executive also commented on bitcoin saying that it was not the cryptocurrency of the future. This was a huge hint that the company had no plans to adopt bitcoin for payments anytime soon. He went on to suggest the use of other cryptocurrencies that are trusted and legitimate.

The statements by Shultz sparked speculation that the famous coffee chain has plans to start accepting cryptocurrencies as payments in the future. However, all the talk about a trusted digital currency has also raised speculation that the company might also launch its own digital token which would be used by customers to make payments. However, there has been no official mention of such and so it remains as pure speculation.

The fact that Starbucks has plans to venture into blockchain means it will become one of the numerous firms that have adopted blockchain to enhance their services.