Search giant Google said that it is under talks with mobile payments firm Softcard to strike an acquisition deal with the troubled company that is being eyed by numerous potential suitors.
According to a person involved in the matter, the search company wishes to buy the small payments group which is controlled by a consortium of US telecom firms for nearly USD 100 million.
Several analysts have predicted that the sale of Softcard would be a shake-out among other companies offering mobile payment services.
“With Apple pay picking up in popularity and PayPal going solo later this year every major technology firm is rethinking their mobile payments strategy. We are likely to see a lot of M&A activity in this space,” said a banker who is not involved in the agreement.
A data by research group eMarketer shows that more and more companies are making tremendous efforts to emerge as a leading player in the mobile payment segment which was expected to become the global business-to-consumer e-commerce market worth USD 1.5 trillion in 2014.
But tech giant Apple is likely to leave Google and other rivals far behind by dominating the mobile wallet business.
The Cupertino-based firm has recently unveiled Apple Pay service that allows the iPhone 6s users to link their smartphones with their debit or credit cards and pay with a tap of their phone while shopping. Apple Pay was recently in news as it emerged relatively popular than other wallet services among the consumers and retailers.
Google, on the other hand, has failed to make a mark in the mobile payments segment. The company had launched its Wallet around four years ago as the search firm tried to get an edge over its prime tech rivals. However, the mobile operators were apprehensive of the ambitions of Google and therefore not enough consumers as well as retailers took it up.
Both Google and Softcard denied to comment on the development.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.