Tag: google

Google may look to revise its mobile payments strategy

| January 23, 2015

Google could be looking for a way to be more competitive in the mobile field

Google may be looking for ways to better compete with Apple in the mobile payments field. The company made its first significant entry into the mobile payments field with the launch of Google Wallet in 2011. The Wallet was troubled by security issues in its early days, but went on to find modest success among consumers and businesses. With the launch of other payment services, such as Apple Pay, Google has begun to worry about its ability to compete.

Company may unveil changes to its payment service in the coming months

The mobile payments space is fiercely competitive, largely due to the huge companies that are investing heavily in their own dominance of the sector. Finding ways to compete in this sector is not easy, as most mobile payment platforms tend to offer the same features as one another. Google may choose to showcase its plans for the future of mobile payments at its upcoming Google I/O conference, which will be held in June of this year. If the company introduces any major changes to the Wallet platform, the event will be the most likely place to do so.

Analysts predict that Google will become bolder in the mobile payments sector

Google Mobile PaymentsAnalysts from Piper Jaffray are predicting that Google will take bold moves in the mobile commerce space. The company has not made reference to such moves yet, but Google has long held an interest in mobile transactions and engaging mobile consumers. With Apple Pay being a direct competitor to Google Wallet, the company may take steps to ensure that it can capture the support of consumers and businesses and make its own payment platform more attractive than those being offered by other companies.

No single mobile commerce service has yet become a mainstream success

Apple Pay has helped propel mobile payments into the mainstream, but the payment platform itself has not yet become a widespread success. Very few payment services have managed to find reliable support among consumers and businesses. Part of this is due to the fact that consumers can move from one payment service to the next, depending on what features they want to use at any given time.

Google may be showing interest in mobile payments firm Softcard

| January 22, 2015

Rumors suggest that Google may be looking to buy Softcard

Google may be in negotiations to acquire Softcard, the mobile payments firm that had once been known as Isis. Rumors suggest that Google may be looking to purchase Softcard for some $100 million, but neither company has confirmed this speculation or denied that negotiations are taking place. Google has a strong interest in mobile payments, having a payment platform of its own that has found modest success. The company has been working to establish a stronger foothold in the mobile commerce space in order to compete with others therein.

Softcard hit by layoffs during restructuring effort to become more efficient

Earlier in the month, Softcard laid off 60 of its employees during a consolidation phase. The company is taking steps to reduce the costs that it is exposed to in order to strengthen its business position. The layoffs were part of a larger restructuring of the company, which involves simplifying its organizational structure in order to be more efficient. This is not an uncommon practice in the business world, especially when it comes to the turbulent mobile payments industry.

Company helps 200,000 merchants accept NFC-based mobile payments from Android and Windows Phone devices

Mobile Payments - GoogleSoftcard exists as a way for large organizations to embrace mobile consumers with NFC-enabled devices. The firm offers NFC-based payment systems, which allow companies to accept transactions being made with mobile devices that are using NFC technology. Softcard claims that more than 200,000 merchants in the United States are making use of this service, as well as the Softcard application, which is available for both Windows Phone and Andorid.

Other companies show potential interest in the acquisition of Softcard

Google may not be the only company that is interested in Softcard. Rumors suggest that both PayPal and Microsoft have approached the company concerning potential acquisition. None of these companies have confirmed that these rumors are true, however. In Google’s case, the company is adamant in not acknowledging such rumors, apart from noting that it does not confirm rumors about its business operations.