Employees at Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX) stores just got good news. The company’s Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) App used to buy Starbucks products can now be used for tipping. Cash tips have been put into jars at the checkout until now.

According to Starbucks:

Beginning March 19, customers using Starbucks App for iPhone in the U.S., U.K. and Canada will experience a streamlined design and easy access to their account and My Starbucks Rewards information. In addition, customers using the app will have the option to leave a tip at more than 7,000 company-operated Starbucks® stores in the U.S.

“With more than 11 percent of transactions a week now happening with a mobile device in our stores, and nearly 10 million customers currently using our mobile app, we’re thrilled to make the digital experience even easier and more rewarding for our customers and partners,” said Adam Brotman, chief digital officer for Starbucks. “This update to the Starbucks App for iPhone is an important next step in digital innovation at Starbucks and one of the many ways we’ll expand and improve our digital experience in the months to come.”

As is true at most large fast-food chains, store personnel are not very well paid. Starbucks has been listed as one of the 10 companies that pay their employees the least.

The new Starbucks App is yet one more proof that cash has become a less and less important part of the fast-food buying transaction. Fast-food companies have joined the migration to electronic payments and e-commerce. Whether this will help overall revenue for Starbucks will be a mystery for the time being. What will not is the ability of low-paid Starbucks employees to make a few extra dollars. That alone is a benefit most fast-food workers cannot enjoy now.

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