PayPal has acquired card.io, a start-up that enables developers to capture credit card information using the camera on a smartphone - eliminating the need to manually type in the information, and speeding up mobile payments.
PayPal already uses card.io technology in its PayPal Here mobile app. PayPal's VP of global product, Hill Ferguson, says: “While working with them, we were simply blown away by the creativity and drive of their employees.
“They are a passionate and independent team that likes solving large, complex problems and we wanted them to join our team.”
The card.io team will join the PayPal global product team. Ferguson says they will help make it easier for consumers and merchants to use the PayPal digital wallet - an area in which PayPal has lagged behind competitors.
“We can't wait to get them involved in helping us change the future of shopping and payments.”
PayPal and card.io have said the current card.io technology will remain available to developers for use in their own applications. Other clients of card.io include Uber and TaskRabbit, and card.io earns $0.15 for every card scanned.
The financial details of the acquisition have not been revealed.
The purchase is PayPal's first in over a year and comes as competition continues to heat up in the mobile payments space.
Major competitors include Square and Google Wallet. Square recently announced plans for international expansion, and reported it processed $4 billion in transactions a year.
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