Mobile payments have slowly but surely wriggled their way into American markets. Starbucks was ahead of the curve, introducing an app last year that allowed customers to pay with their phone. Starting this fall, the coffee empire is switching to using Square, a company whose mobile app allows you to pay “effortlessly.” Your card on file will be charged, and you quickly leave the counter. In the future, things will get a little sci-fi. You won’t even need to take anything out of your pocket–you will be detected via GPS.
I think this will be really cool if Square catches on with other merchants. Though it takes away any tangible aspect of paying, which makes me wonder if people will find it easier to spend since it will just feel like play money. Read on for my roundup of my favorite posts from the personal finance blogosphere from the past week.
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