Is Apple Courting Square to Enter Mobile Payments Business?

Apple (AAPL) reportedly may tee up a mobile payments business to leverage its huge storehouse of customer information and already is interviewing executive candidates to head product and business development.

DH Kass, Senior Contributing Blogger

April 23, 2014

2 Min Read
Is Apple Courting Square to Enter Mobile Payments Business?

Apple (AAPL) reportedly may tee up a mobile payments business to leverage its huge storehouse of customer information and already is interviewing executive candidates to head product and business development.

According to a Re/code report, the vendor apparently is keen to capitalize on the hundreds of millions of credit card accounts it has on file from its iTunes customers, looking for a money-making place in the middle of those mobile transactions.

Apple has charged Jennifer Bailey, its E-Commerce head, to shepherd the effort, the report said, citing sources. So far, Bailey is said to have interviewed a number of candidates for the two open positions. The timing of Apple rolling out a mobile payments business still is unclear.

The vendor reportedly kicked around the idea with PayPal earlier this year, according to Re/code, and the two companies still may be trying to figure out if there’s a partnering opportunity.

Of course, one way Apple could launch itself into the mobile payments business is through an acquisition, although the vendor has shown itself over time to shun large M&A deals. Still, lending more credence to Apple’s interest in the mobile payment business is new word that the company has investigated buying Square, the mobile payments startup launched by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey.

Google (GOOG), eBay (EBAY) and PayPal also were said to have looked at buying Square, which reportedly lost $100 million last year and is rumored to have run through half of the $340 million it has secured in equity financing since 2009, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

Square’s spokespeople have denied that the company has any interest in selling itself or that it’s been involved in acquisition talks with a possible suitor.

About 1 million merchants accept credit card payments through Square’s credit card reader, which affixes to a smartphone or tablet. Last year the company processed some $20 billion in transactions, which generated about $550 million in sales but tiny margins, the Journal said.

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About the Author

DH Kass

Senior Contributing Blogger, The VAR Guy

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