Roger Fingas
The mobile payment industry continues to see shakeups this week, as PayPal has announced it will acquire Paydiant, a mobile wallet developer with clients including MCX — the consortium behind retailer-driven Apple Pay competitor CurrentC.
The acquisition is expected to close by late March or April, pending regulatory approval, and grant PayPal the ability to offer branded wallets to partner companies. These can include not just basic payment systems but promotional options like loyalty rewards, special offers, and preferred payment methods, namely gift cards and branded credit cards.
Neither company has disclosed the value of the merger.
Paydiant's offerings are described as "technology agnostic," based on QR codes or NFC rather than demanding specific hardware. Apple Pay, for instance, requires an iPhone, iPad, or the Apple Watch, while Google Wallet and Android Pay can run only on Android devices. In both cases, merchants must also have compatible point-of-sale terminals if they want to handle store transactions.
It's unclear at this stage if and how the buyout might impact MCX, which is rolling out CurrentC this year. Some retailers in that consortium have agreed to an exclusivity window, temporarily cutting options like Apple Pay out of the equation.
PayPal is already a dominant force in the mobile payments industry, with some 150 million users worldwide.
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31 Comments
I look forward to the day when ?Pay can replace PayPal. They're starting to go off the rails, just like Daddy eBay (who admittedly went off the rails some time ago).
I have no problem with competition, and even like the idea of more payment systems. The problem I have is when one system tries to lock all the others out. Especially when the retailers agree because that system shares more information about myself.
Apple Pay, just like like the iPhone, has set off a chain reaction of events by companies which have completely rested on their laurels and lazily relied on existing sources of revenue. A lot of these late to the party will eventually be out of business or they'll have to panic sell their business before they disappear.
Im not using any system where I share my info with anyone other than Apple.
And now PayPal Inc. looks even less attractive to potential buyers.