GoPago

Amazon has purchased GoPago, a San Francisco-based tablet point-of-sale and mobile payment startup, according to a report in La Repubblica,

GoPago’s platform allows users to pre-pay for goods at a participating business with a mobile app, and works as a Square-like point-of-sale system for businesses. The terms of the deal have not been disclosed, though co-founder and Chief Technology Officer Vicenzo di Nicola (who was interviewed for the report) will not be joining Amazon as a part of the acquisition.

Vicenzo di Nicola
Vicenzo di Nicola

While Amazon hasn’t said what it plans to do with the company, GoPago could give the Seattle-based online retailer a means of expanding its Amazon Payments technology to the world of physical goods.

Right now, a key part of eBay’s strategy when it comes to competing with Amazon consists of moving PayPal out to more retailers, and serving as a platform for those retailers to take advantage of mobile payments.

If Amazon can get a piece of that market, it would be a serious hit to eBay and other competitors like Square, and shore up one of the company’s key weaknesses.

The news was first spotted in the U.S. by TechCrunch.

Interestingly, according to a report by Corriere Della Sera on the acquisition, Google was also interested in GoPago, though Amazon’s offer won the day.

Neither Amazon nor GoPago were immediately available for comment.

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