Heartstopping news. According to PayPal’s blog, they have snapped up credit card start-up card.io. There is no information on the price they paid.
Hill Ferguson, Vice President of Global Product, PayPal, said: “I’m excited to announce that PayPal has acquired card.io, a San Francisco-based company that provides technology for developers to capture credit card information by using the camera on a smartphone.” Presumably they bought it in a heartbeat.
Ferguson continues: “The employees at card.io will be joining the PayPal global product team in San Jose to help us create new experiences to make it even easier for consumers and merchants to use the PayPal digital wallet.” Arresting development potential, and no mistake.
But before you go giddy from the (pay)palpitations this news causes, consider PayPal’s history when transferring the technology potential of aquisitions outside the USA. Recent PayPal purchases such as Zong and Bill Me Later have yet to be seen on this side of the Atlantic and there is no indication that British consumers will enjoy such services any time soon.
Indeed, even basic services like the PayPal Debit Card (enjoyed by many in the States) have been discontinued over here. PayPal has also been late to fulfil its Faster Payments obligations in the UK. All this suggests that the UK is an innovation backwater and an unimportnat market as far as the payments giant is concerned. So don’t hold your breath for card.io.
