Victor Roncea Blog

McDonald’s Tries Out New RFID-enabled Pay-By-Phone Coupons
By Jose Fermoso Wired

First, it was the Starbucks-style store redesign and new focus on the coffee. Now, the latest attempt by McDonald’s to stay relevant is through a new e-coupon system that it is currently testing in Japan. Called the Kasazu coupon (or contactless) it is a payment application that is downloaded into your phone and is then placed on top of an RFID reader by the user for instant payments and coupon redemption.

According to the press release, McDonald’s will begin using the tech in 175 stores and eventually expand it to the other 3,800 stores in that country. There’s no word on when they expect to move this option to U.S. stores. Many phones in Japan include RFID tech, so it’s a good place to set-up highly concentrated trials of a transaction technology that will likely go completely mainstream in the next few years.

For McDonald’s, and other companies that are thinking about connecting their service to portable applications, this is about more than just offering convenience to the customer. For one, marketing campaigns and specific offers could be structured around an individual user’s food preferences, where, of course, they could sell mobile ads and make a little extra dough.