mPowa Eyes Global Expansion (Jan. 4, 2013)
Jan. 4, 2013
Mobile payment provider mPowa is starting the new year in expansion mode, as the U.K.-based company unveils plans to enter new markets, including new cities in the U.S. and India. mPowa, which offers merchants a card reader that plugs into a mobile device for payment card acceptance, is competing with Square—the market leader in the U.S.—and a bevy of other startups offering similar products for a foothold in the rapidly developing market for mobile-based card readers. The company predicts the U.S. market will be “one of the fastest adopters” of its mobile payment technology; to that end, mPowa has tabbed Houston and Michigan as promising markets for expansion, and says it plans to open regional sales offices in those areas to sign up more corporate clients. mPowa launched last June in the U.S., targeting larger corporate retailers and branding itself as a “Square for corporations.” Since then, the company has enjoyed what CEO Dan Wagner calls “strong demand from a wide variety of sectors, including banks, telcos and other partners.”
Concurrent with its U.S. expansion, mPowa is looking to grow across the globe. Fresh off its October deal with South Africa’s First National Bank to provide white-label mobile payments services, the company now is considering expansion into India—home to 600 million active mobile users, according to mPowa. The country is already home to a number of startups in the mobile payments arena, including Ezetap Mobile Solutions, iKaaz Software Ltd. and PayMate India Pvt. Ltd.
