Apple makes moves in the payment industry with Mobeewave acquisition

Mobeewave Inc. a Canadian-based startup has been recently acquired by Apple. According to Bloomberg, the California tech-giant paid roughly $100 million USD for the company.‍

What does Mobeewave do?

‍Mobeewave developed technology that allows merchants to use their iPhones as mobile payment terminals.

The technology allows you to accept card payments via tap using Near Field Communications (NFC) on iPhones without the use of dongles, cables or extra hardware.

The team continues to work for Apple from Mobeewave’s hometown montreal.

‍How does this benefit Apple?

‍Apple commented about the acquisition, stating “Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans”.

Apple could incorporate this technology into its products in a variety of ways. This could be a feature that gives Apple Pay a greater edge over Square’s POS. Like many large companies, Apple has created an acquisition strategy to both differentiate themselves and eliminate competition. Apple will continue to make acquisitions for specific technological pieces that can be integrated into its products.

Due to the current Covid-19 pandemic, both consumers and merchants are favoring touch-free payment and contactless options over cash. According to Christoffer Hernaes, CTO of Norweigian online bank Sbanken, the ability to authenticate payment on your own smartphone instead of touching a PIN-pad on a traditional payment terminal “may be the spark that accelerates mobile payments”.

He believes that this acquisition could give Apple traction over banks.

In January 2020, Mobeewave debuted a new program in collaboration with Incentivo to help give restaurant customers access to contactless digital payments. Prior to the acquisition, Mobeewave also partnered with Samsung to bring the technology to its Galaxy phones investing in the startup who had raised about $20 Million in Oct 2019. In addition to this acquisition, the Apple Card debuted last year in partnership with Goldman Sachs.  This piques our curiosity of how Mobeewave will play a role into Apple’s overall payment ecosystem.