Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Mobile
  3. News

Google is in talks to buy mobile payments company Softcard to fend off Apple Pay

Jason Hahn
By

Mobile payments
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Google is girding its loins for an all-out mobile payments war with Apple and others, and its next move appears to be acquiring current competitor Softcard. The move would help Google fend off Apple’s growing mobile payments market share, while allowing it to overcome some competition and hurdles it currently faces.

Softcard (formerly and unfortunately named Isis), the mobile payments company jointly owned by AT&T, Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile USA, laid off more than 60 employees last week and told its remaining employees to cease working until a buyer was found, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Recommended Videos

That buyer appears to be Google, which recently offered to purchase Softcard for $50 million. PayPal expressed interest in buying Softcard, but the telecom companies behind Softcard prefer Google because they all sell phones that run Google’s Android mobile operating system. Google also has a revenue-sharing model related to mobile searches and its Play store in place with the companies behind Softcard.

Related

Acquiring Softcard would remove a thorn in Google’s side, as its Wallet mobile payment service has suffered partly because of telecom companies’ unwillingness to help. Instead, they decided to launch their own mobile payments solution in Softcard, which has also struggled to gain sure footing.

The acquisition would also reopen previously derailed discussions between Google and the telecom companies regarding the use of data on mobile purchase behavior in physical stores to improve digital advertising targeting and the sharing of this ad revenue.

Google also appears to be interested in Softcard’s more than 120 patents and applications for patents, according to TechCrunch.

“It’s unfortunate that they’ve chosen now as a time to scale back,” according to Ed Busby, Softcard’s former chief commerce officer, who spoke with TechCrunch about the potential deal. “Externally, for the first time since I’ve been in this industry, the signs are pointing positively for mobile payments.”

Apple’s mobile payments service, Apple Pay, launched in late October and has given the company 1.7 percent of the mobile payments market, according to research firm ITG. Google’s three-year-old Wallet maintains a lead over Apple with about 4.0 percent of the market, but an ITG analyst said Apple Pay users are more engaged, which bodes well for its future. PayPal currently has a healthy lead over both Apple and Google with 78 percent of the market, while Square holds 18 percent of the market.

The U.S. mobile payments market is expected to grow to $142 billion in 2019, according to research firm Forrester. It currently stands at about $50 billion.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Jason Hahn
Jason Hahn
Contributor
Jason Hahn is a part-time freelance writer based in New Jersey. He earned his master's degree in journalism at Northwestern…
Google Pixel 8 Pro vs. iPhone 15 Pro: which $1,000 phone should you buy?
A Google Pixel 8 Pro in Porcelain (left) with an iPhone 15 Pro in Blue Titanium held in hand.

 

It’s an exciting season for premium smartphones. Apple has unveiled its iPhone 15 Pro with a sleek new titanium finish and ultra-powerful A17 Pro chip. Now, Google has followed that up with its new flagship Google Pixel 8 Pro, packing in a new Tensor G3  processor, an improved camera system, and a wealth of fun new machine-learning-powered features.

Read more
Apple and Google are teaming up to make tracking devices less creepy
Apple AirTag lifestyle image.

Apple and Google are partnering to develop a new standard for Bluetooth tracking devices that seeks to stop malicious stalking and other abusive use of gadgets like the Apple AirTag. Essentially, this would be a universal, OS-level tracker detection and alert system that will work uniformly across Android and iOS. The two companies are inviting stakeholders to review the proposal and submit their feedback within the next three months.

Once the feedback period is over, all the involved parties will work together to finalize the technical standardization, with the hope of releasing a market-ready version by the end of the year. Following the release and adoption by makers of tracking devices, the tech will be generally made available via a software update for Android and iOS devices.
Better late than never

Read more
No, you can’t use an Apple gift card on Apple Pay
Photo of Apple gift cards.

A viral TikTok has made the internet rounds, showing a person who thought that they could transfer Apple gift card funds to Apple Pay. After buying a $300 Apple gift card, however, they quickly learned that that's simply not possible. While their choice might seem misguided in hindsight, there are plenty of people who have been left confused about the differences between Apple gift cards and Apple Pay.

While having a $300 Apple gift card certainly has its uses — such as buying 10 years of Apple Music, as the original poster jokingly pointed out — it's certainly not the same as having that same money to spend freely with Apple Pay. To avoid making the same mistake as this TikTok user, make sure that you understand the distinctions between the two Apple services, as it might just save you $300 (or more).
You cannot add Apple gift cards to Apple Pay

Read more