Monday, March 2, 2015

PayPal Acquires Paydiant in Bid for Bigger Role in Retail Mobile Payments

PayPal is acquiring Paydiant, a provider of a white-label platform that allows retailers to create their own mobile wallet apps, including payment, loyalty card, and digital coupon support.

The move shows PayPal’s commitment to acquire a bigger role in retail payments, since Paydiant's customer base includes Subway, CapitalOne and MCX, the consortium of major retailers that plans to launch a mobile payments platform called CurrentC later in 3025.

MCX's backers include Wal-Mart, Target, Kmart, Best Buy, Dunkin' Donuts, CVS, Shell Oil (for its network of convenience stores and gasoline stations), 7-Eleven Inc. and Sunoco.

With the Apple Pay launch, Samsung's acquisition of mobile payments platform LoopPay, and Google's deals with U.S. carriers to pre-install Google Wallet on their Android phones, it is clear that activity in the mobile payments space is heating up, even if the leading contenders now seem to include the retailers, Apple, Samsung, possibly Starbucks and potentially Google, even if the leading mobile service provider (SoftCard) essentially has withdrawn from active contention.

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