Digital payments give Tim’s an edge

Article Excerpt

TIM HORTONS INC. $50 (Toronto symbol THI; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 154.9 million; Market cap: $7.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.5; Dividend yield: 1.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.timhortons.com) is the first fast-food company in Canada that lets customers pay for their purchases using their smartphones. After installing the necessary software, users can pay for their purchases by swiping their phone in front of a special scanner. This should speed up service and encourage repeat visits. The company has installed these scanners in 2,300 of its 3,300 coffee-and-donut stores in Canada. Tim Hortons plans to bring this technology to an additional 700 outlets by December 2012. Tim Hortons is a buy. buy…