Kentucky Fried Chicken UK and Ireland is ramping up its mobile payment ambitions through a new initiative with PayPal that cuts down on the number of steps that it takes consumers to place an order.

KFC UK and Ireland has expanded its Fast Track mobile application and site by integrating PayPal as a way to pay. The goal behind leveraging PayPal as a payment option is to help consumers feel more comfortable paying through their mobile devices.

“From the very first order, PayPal users have a streamlined check-out experience and can check-out with PayPal,” said Jeremie Leroyer, CEO of Airtag, New York.

“PayPal account details are used to process the transaction so the customer doesn’t need to enter any additional banking or card information,” he said.

Mobile food
The fast food giant originally partnered with Airtag earlier this year to launch its mobile payment app in April.

Since then, the company has seen up to 90 percent of its users actually paying via the app (see story).

With the new feature, consumers can create a Fast Track account using a PayPal account.

The goal here is to keep a payment option on file to speed up the payment process.

PayPal is embedded into Fast Track’s mobile site and application that is available for free download in Britain’s Apple Store.

When consumers log in, PayPal’s logo appears at the top of the screen.

From there, consumers can type in either the mobile phone number or email that is linked with their PayPal account.

Once the account is linked, consumers can then select PayPal as the payment method after an order has been created.

Fast Track uses location-based services to alert restaurant employees when consumers are within a geo-fenced area around the store, which triggers an order to be prepared.

Consumers can then check-in via the app or site and skip the line to pick up their order.

Diners can also scan an in-store QR code to trigger a payment.

The app also stores ordering history, favorites, payment details and receipts.

Fast Track is available in Woking, Southampton, Slough and Basingstoke in Britain.

Fast food payments?
KFC is the latest quick service restaurant to leverage mobile to make the payment process as seamless as possible, particularly in international markets.

McDonald’s also recently expanded a partnership with PayPal in France nationwide (see story).

In the past, most of the mobile payment work with QSRs took place internationally, but this year there has been significant gains in the United States.

For example, Wendy’s and Subway are both making gains in the United States.

In May, Wendy’s launched a pilot program in Portland, OR, Albuquerque, NM and Austin, TX, that lets consumers pay for meals via the chain’s branded app (see story).

“The benefits for customers of the new features, are that they are fast, easy and user-friendly and offer Fast Track users even more ways to pay,” Mr. Leroyer said.

Final Take
Lauren Johnson is associate reporter on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York