PayPal Picks up StackMob In Bid to Streamline Payments Features for Mobile Apps

By Kevin Woodward

n

PayPal Inc.’s acquisition of mobile developer StackMob Inc. may help it build a talent pool to more quickly and easily deploy mobile apps, suggests one analyst.

n

PayPal announced earlier this week it, along with parent company eBay Inc., bought the San Francisco-based developer for an undisclosed amount. StackMob offers a mobile platform that companies and developers can use to create apps.

n

“We are building one of the most modern, advanced development environment and infrastructure in the payments industry,” a PayPal spokesperson says. “We believe we have made great progress and are now focusing on expanding our stellar team of engineers who will be able to do great work in this world-class environment. That’s why PayPal acquired StackMob.”

n

“It’s largely a talent acquisition, but the StackMob team is very skilled at offering services to companies that want to quickly and easily deploy mobile apps,” says Rick Oglesby, senior analyst at Aite Group, a Boston-based consulting firm. “There will be a big synergy between what PayPal wants to do—embed its payments capabilities in mobile applications—and what StackMob knows how to do, and PayPal’s larger sphere of influence will make StackMob’s skill set more valuable.”

n

PayPal’s mobile-payments volume has grown from less than $1 million in 2006 to an expected $20 billion in 2013. That’s not unexpected given the growth in mobile commerce fueled by widespread adoption of smart phones and tablets, and given PayPal’s push to extend its brand from the online arena to the physical one. “We are developing most of our products with a mobile-first mentality to drive engaging, simple customer experiences,” the spokesperson says.

n

In August, PayPal struck a deal with Alliance Data Systems Corp., a third-party private-label and cobranded credit card processor, to offer PayPal acceptance to merchants enrolled in Alliance Data’s card programs.

n

PayPal has similar deals with Discover Financial Services to offer in-store acceptance, and with Durango, Colo.-based Mercury Payment Systems.