2019.07.31 LINE App
● New users can get a LINE Starbucks Card through the LINE app and top up with LINE Pay
● Campaign celebrating one million users (from July 31 to August 13) will give users chance to win 100 Stars
TOKYO – July 31, 2019 – LINE Corporation ("LINE") and Starbucks Coffee Japan Ltd. ("Starbucks") announce that the LINE Starbucks Card has topped one million users in just 2.5 months since its release on April 8. The card is the first initiative to come out of the comprehensive business partnership between the two companies.*1
To celebrate this milestone, Starbucks is kicking off a 14-day campaign that will run from today until August 13, giving 5,000 users the chance to win 100 Stars through the Starbucks Rewards™ loyalty program.
First launched by Starbucks in 2017, Starbucks RewardsTM has now rocketed to 4.3 million members thanks to the influx of new users from LINE Starbucks Card. Additionally, in the two years since, Starbucks has continued to evolve its program to fit changing customer needs and ways of shopping to hone the customer experience and boost satisfaction.
*1 LINE Corporation and Starbucks Coffee Japan Ltd. Enter Into Comprehensive Partnership
https://www.starbucks.co.jp/press_release/pr2019-2834.php (Japanese only)
https://linecorp.com/en/pr/news/en/2018/2528
About LINE Starbucks Card
The LINE Starbucks Card is the first initiative to come out of the comprehensive business partnership between Starbucks and LINE, which was formed last year with the aim of bringing an innovative and seamless digital experience to life. The result of collaborative efforts between two partners, the card delivers value to both existing and new customers alike, providing an enhanced customer experience for the former, and a new touchpoint—the LINE app—for those who have not yet had the chance to use the Starbucks Coffee Japan official app or Starbucks Card.
The LINE Starbucks Card is a digital prepaid card, and sports a design showing the LINE characters enjoying a cup of Starbucks coffee. Anyone can create their own card in just a few taps from the My Card page in the LINE app's Wallet tab. Not only can the card be used to make cashless payments like the existing Starbucks Card, but new customers can also become a member of the Starbucks RewardsTM loyalty program*2 and start earning Stars*3 without needing to sign up to My Starbucks.*4
Credit card linking is also not required, as users can easily top up their LINE Starbucks Card through LINE Pay.
*2 Starbucks Rewards is a loyalty program that offers customers a more personalized and rewarding Starbucks experience. Customers can purchase limited edition products that match up with their preferences, receive invites to exclusive events, and more. Additionally, registering a Starbucks Card online and using it to pay in-store will reward customers with Stars, which can be exchanged for Starbucks drinks, food, coffee beans, and other products.
*3 Customers will need to sign up with My Starbucks to use their Starbucks eTicket (ticket for exchanging Stars for products worth up to to JPY 700, excluding tax).
*4 My Starbucks is a completely free, members-only service that offers customers more ways to enjoy their Starbucks experience. Members receive emails about new products and campaigns, as well as other exclusive content and gifts.
About My Card
My Card is a service available through the Wallet tab on the LINE app (used by over 81 million monthly active users in Japan). My Card brings together dozens of lifestyle brands, loyalty cards, and membership cards in one place to help users more easily manage their data for various reward programs. The service was launched in October 2018 with the aim of replacing physical reward cards with the LINE app. Since then, T-Card, Ponta, and many other reward cards and membership cards have become available to LINE users. Anyone can start using My Card as long as they have the LINE app, and the countless benefits—eliminating the physical action of taking cards out, streamlining the process of paying and earning rewards without requiring users to download separate apps, and slimming down user wallets while ensuring reward cards and coupons are always on hand—has propelled the number of new cards created through the service to five million.
Starbucks to run a special campaign celebrating one million LINE Starbucks Card users
To commemorate one million LINE Starbucks Cards, Starbucks will run a campaign from today until August 13. Five thousand winners will be selected by a lucky draw from customers who use their LINE Starbucks Card during the campaign period, and rewarded with 100 Stars. Stars can be exchanged for Starbucks drinks, food, coffee beans, and other products.
More details can be found on the campaign website below.
https://sbux.jp/line01 (Japanese only)
About LINE Starbucks Card
How to create a LINE Starbucks Card
Users can create a new LINE Starbucks Card through either one of the following ways.
1. Create from the Wallet tab in the LINE app
Tap on My Card > LINE Starbucks Card, and agree to the terms of service.
*Agreeing to the terms of service will also automatically add the Starbucks LINE Official Account to a user's friend list.
2. Create from the Starbucks LINE Official Account
Friend the Starbucks LINE Official Account, open the chat room, and select "LINE Starbucks Card" from the menu panel on the bottom half of the screen.
How to pay with the LINE Starbucks Card
When making a purchase at a Starbucks store, customers can pay with their LINE Starbucks Card by either accessing it from the LINE app > Wallet tab > My Card page, or bringing up a QR code from the Starbucks LINE Official Account and showing it to the cashier.
How to top up the LINE Starbucks Card
Access the card from the LINE app > Wallet tab > My Card, and tap the button to deposit funds from a LINE Pay account, or top up in-store with cash or a credit card (same method as the Starbucks Card).
About Starbucks Coffee Japan Inc. http://www.starbucks.co.jp/en/
Starbucks Coffee Japan Ltd. was established in October 1995 as a joint venture between SAZABY Inc. (now SAZABY LEAGUE Ltd.) and Starbucks Coffee International Inc., the international arm and subsidiary of the US Starbucks Corporation. It opened its first store in Japan in 1996 in Ginza, Tokyo. Starbucks Coffee Japan Ltd. became a wholly owned subsidiary of Starbucks Corporation in 2015. There are now over 30,000 Starbucks stores across the world in 80 countries. In Japan, over 1,400 locations and licensed stores can be found across all 47 prefectures. Earlier this year on February 28, 2019, the Starbucks Reserve Roastery Tokyo opened its doors in Nakameguro—the fifth of its kind.
Putting its mission of "[inspiring] and [nurturing] the human spirit – one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time" front and center, Starbucks provides a space for people to connect, and offers a wide range of services for customers to find meaningful moments over a cup of Starbucks coffee. The company first launched its loyalty program Starbucks RewardsTM in September 2017, which has now gone on to reach 4.3 million members. Since then, the company has used its digital platform to elevate the Starbucks experience for each and every customer, including expanding the number of stores offering delivery, and introducing the Mobile Order and Pay for customers to order on the Starbucks app and have their food or drink waiting for pick up.
About LINE Corporation https://linecorp.com/en/
Under its corporate mission “Closing the Distance,” LINE is dedicated to creating a world in which the LINE platform serves as a hub for all a user's day-to-day needs—seamlessly connecting people, information, services, businesses, and brands, anywhere, anytime, and at the most comfortable distance. With the LINE messaging app serving as the gateway since its creation in 2011, LINE Corporation is developing, operating, and advertising a wide range of smartphone-first services in areas such as communication, content, and entertainment, and has also been expanding its business in the AI and Fintech domains. It strives to offer value-added services to its more than 164 million MAU (with Japan accounting for 81 million) in its four key markets in Asia: Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia.
LINE's Fintech services, including LINE Pay and its over 48 million users worldwide (36 million of whom are in Japan), are especially well received among users for not only their high level of security but also their accessibility and innovation.