McDonald’s experimenting with mobile payments at some US locations

You may soon be able to order from the McDonald’s dollar menu using your smartphone. As reported by Bloomberg News, the fast food giant is currently testing a new app that allows for mobile payments. Customers can pick up their food inside a nearby McDonald’s restaurant, from the drive-in window, or “curbside” according to the report. The app is being trialled in Salt Lake City and Austin, Texas, a spokesperson confirmed. “We are testing some of these technologies in a few markets, so it’s premature to speculate on the decisions we may make after the tests, but we’re excited to bring a cutting-edge experience in the future to our customers,” the McDonald’s representative told Bloomberg News.

The fast food chain last year experimented with a PayPal-based mobile payments infrastructure in France, though it’s unknown whether McDonald’s is partnering with the company for these latest tests. McDonald’s has long offered free Wi-Fi in its locations, though it has badly trailed other restaurants like Domino’s, Chipotle, and others in harnessing smartphones as a means of taking orders.