Starbucks app allows customers to pay without cash or plastic

Paying for your favorite cup of joe without cash or plastic? Yep, there's an app for that.

Starbucks is reporting that in just three months, three million people have used the "Starbucks Mobile Card App."

Here's how it works: you download the app for your iPhone or BlackBerry, add money to your Starbucks account, and after you order at the register -- instead of paying with a plastic card, you scan the barcode that appears on your phone.

"If I had a smartphone, I'd be pumped about it. I think it's a good idea," said Starbucks customer Mike Dowd. "Not having to carry around a bunch of different cards if you have more than one credit card -- It's all on your phone."

"I think it's creative, easy, and effective. It's kind of green. There's room in your wallet. You don't have to search through a bottomless purse to find it," said another customer, Brandi Dice.

While scanning a barcode on your phone may be fast and easy, it could be taking away from the human interaction between the customer and the cashier or server behind the counter.

Ron Hamilton, who teaches Interpersonal Communication at Finger Lakes Community College, says the Starbucks app is more about the bottom line.

"They're a service business. They need their consumers to be satisfied with the service and the products. And this is just way for cold hard technology to actually have the company say we're going to meet your needs. This is going to be easy and convenient for you. You're probably going to keep seeing us more often, come back and buy more of our products," said Hamilton.

For the record, Hamilton does not have a smart phone, although he feels he's knowledgable about all the fast-changing technology. He doesn't let his students text him -- instead, he encourages face-to-face conversations, a skill a lot of people argue could be dying.

And if you're worried about people touching your smart phone at the store, don't worry, they can't. Just hold out your phone, and they'll scan it.

Recourse from：http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42259345