Amazon, DoubleBeam Divide GoPago’s M-POS Assets (Jan. 2, 2014)
Could 2014 bring a wave of m-POS consolidation? That trend springs to mind as details emerge about the sale of m-POS startup GoPago, a rising star launched in 2009 that secured a $25 million investment from JPMorgan Chase & Co. less than a year ago. Amazon is one of two buyers taking pieces of GoPago, suggesting an appetite for m-POS assets as competition in the arena intensifies. Amazon’s GoPago move might be part of a bigger m-POS play, given its huge base of Kindle devices in the market, some suggest. GoPago’s iOS and Android app enables customers to order and pay ahead for merchandise pickup at participating restaurants and retailers. GoPago’s core mobile commerce technology also competes with the likes of Square Register and NCR Silver, according to analysts.
Shortly after reports circulated last month about Amazon buying GoPago, Pasadena, Calif.-based DoubleBeam also announced a GoPago acquisition. DoubleBeam said it will use GoPago’s technology to enhance its existing array of merchant payment services, which include mobile-based electronic check acceptance and remote deposit capture. Amazon acquired part of GoPago’s engineering team, and Doublebeam is keeping GoPago’s merchant relationships, according to reports. Terms of the two deals were not disclosed.
Hundreds of m-POS firms worldwide are racing to sign up large and small merchants in a crowded field filled with rivals, including Square, PayPal Inc.’s PayPal Here, Fiserv Inc.’s SpotPay and many others. Javelin last year forecast the explosion in m-POS providers could drive $1.1 trillion in new card payments in the U.S. alone over the next few years.
