Square, Google Wallet and PayPal have been the main competitors in mobile commerce. However the EBay-owned online financial transactions titan Paypal has moved a step further. It announced on Tuesday that it has bought a San Francisco startup focused on using smartphone cameras to take credit card payments.
PayPal has worked with Card.io to fold its technology into its own mobile application and decided to buy the company, according to PayPal vice president of global product Hill Ferguson.
Card.io will continue to provide kits for software developers to build credit card scanning capabilities into applications for Apple or Android-powered smartphones, according to Ferguson.
With card.io integration, no external dongle is needed to swipe a credit card. The technology lets payments be made using data captured from pictures of credit cards taken with smartphone cameras.
Let’s see how it works!
What are the specialties of card.io?
- No hardware. Customers don’t need an additional reader device to process credit card purchases – anyone with a credit card and Android, iPhone, or browser can scan their card.
- Flexible. Works with your existing payment stack. Sign up, add card.io library, and you’re scanning cards. Keep your merchant account and gateway code intact.
- Optimized for mobile. While other solutions are meant for physical retailers or web browsers, card.io’s mobile libraries are optimized for mobile devices and networks.
- Built for developers. Solid, optimized code, well documented APIs, no BS. Card.io create great experiences for both developers and their users.
More information at:
http://www.nst.com.my/latest/paypal-stuffs-startup-into-smartphone-wallet-1.109285#
