Tag: groupon

SumUp wins funding to expand mobile payments services

A mobile payments startup based in Berlin, Germany, has received the financial backing of large companies like Groupon and American Express recently. SumUp is a relatively new startup company that currently operates in 11 European countries and has helped expand mobile payments throughout the region. Consumers have been growing more comfortable with the idea of mobile commerce and have been demanding new services that are more comprehensive and more convenient for their needs.

Company may be able to establish stronger foothold in Europe

SumUp has announced that it has raised several million dollars in funding from companies that are interested in its approach to mobile payments. The funding is expected to help SumUp expand the services it offers throughout Europe. While mobile commerce has managed to establish a strong foothold in Europe, it is still considered a young sector that faces significant challenges that can derail growth and progress. Appropriate levels of funding could help mobile payments overcome these challenges and find better traction throughout the world.

Large companies currently dominating mobile commerce field

SumUp is not the only mobile payments firm operating in Europe. Several larger companies, such as PayPal, have begun to muscle into the mobile commerce sector in the region, all looking to establish some rapport with consumers and make them more comfortable with the concept of making mobile payments. Whether SumUp will be able to compete with these larger companies is uncertain, but the firm may be able to beat out smaller competitors that exist in the market.

UK consumers show great deal of love for mobile payments

Thus far, consumers in the United Kingdom have been the most willing to embrace mobile commerce. The country already has a robust mobile payments infrastructure. Several companies in the UK have embraced mobile payments, creating a highly competitive environment that has been unaccommodating to smaller companies that are not backed by significant funding. Fortunately for SumUp, both Groupon and American Express have considerable faith in the company.

The application had been available in the Apple App Store for a few hours but was then removed.

Groupon made dozens of mobile payments headlines, this week, when an app was released for the iPad at the App Store and that looked as though the company would be taking on Square in direct competition, but it the application was soon removed from the website altogether.

This has lead many in the industry to believe that the app was released prematurely.

The iPad mobile payments app had been called the Groupon POS. This looked as though Groupon was declaring itself ready to jump into the tablet transaction arena. The apparent launch of the app spawned a great deal of confusion, as there had not been any form of official announcement to accompany the release.

Though the mobile payments app was clearly live at the store though the company had been silent.

This didn’t stop the Groupon mobile payments app from being noticed, downloaded, and reviewed by a solid handful of people, who have already formed opinions about it, even though it has been removed from the App Store. So far, the consensus on the app that may not be its completed version, was that it is a simple and attractive way to manage business transactions and accept payments at rates that are lower than the competition.

Users found that it was extremely simple and fast for a company to be able to set up its offerings, and that the checkout process should be possible within a matter of seconds. Real-time analytics can be instantly viewed, to allow companies to keep a close eye on how things are doing from one moment to the next.

The Groupon POS mobile payments application can also work with an optional printer and cash drawer, for businesses that are looking for greater simplification and automation of their point of sale. Reviewers have been able to identify a wide variety of different uses for the app and the service, for a broad range of different types of merchants, from cafes to hair salons, and from florists to delis.