In the fast-food industry’s race to let customers order and pay with their phones, Burger King is seeking an early lead on McDonald’s, according to Bloomberg.
The chain has been testing mobile-payment technology in the Miami area since December and is looking to introduce it more broadly soon, according to Jose Cil, Burger King’s president. That will set the stage for a national rollout within months.
The contest to get the technology out first represents the next big battle for burger joints. Though Starbucks and pizza chains have been using mobile-ordering apps for years, the biggest fast-food companies are now trying to catch up. McDonald’s is planning its nationwide debut by the end of the year, potentially giving Burger King an opportunity to move ahead of its far-larger rival.
An app that lets users order and complete purchases via a mobile phone would help Burger King build a tighter connection with customers, Cil said. “Our guests want to interact with us in more convenient ways, and we’re looking to put our brand in the palm of their hands,“ he said.
The burger chain declined to give an exact date for a national introduction of the app. McDonald’s also wouldn’t comment on the specific timing of its mobile-pay technology, beyond reiterating its target for some time in the fourth quarter of the year.
A mobile-payment app would help lock in customers by breezing them through the purchasing process. Customers can use their phones to order food before they even arrive at the restaurant, and then pay for it automatically, avoiding the fuss of registers or wallets.
Starbucks has had a mobile-pay feature for years, helping popularize its app and rewards program, which now boasts 13.3 million domestic members. But even Starbucks’ largely successful experience has brought hiccups: So many of its customers now bypass the register area that they tend to bunch up at the pickup station, creating congestion.
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