Hot on the heels of its ground-breaking roll out of scanable billboards in Paris for Comptoir des Cotonniers, e-commerce platform company Powa is looking to close the circle with the purchase of mobile payment company MPayMe, which will see Powa add simple one-click mobile payments to its propostion.
Powa’s PowaTag, a mobile commerce solution that enables shoppers to complete purchases anytime, anywhere simply by scanning tags on anything from products to billboards, will now utilise MPayMe’s ZNAP SecurePay app to add simple purchasing to the scanning and buying process – making for quite a compelling mobile shopping app that can be added to shops, shelf edges, billboards, adverts or anything else.
The technology of MPayMe’s ZNAP will be integrated into PowaTag to create a raft of new features with exciting applications. By combining with ZNAP, PowaTag will also expand beyond the high street, bringing instant purchasing capability to everything from food to event tickets, a service already launched at Twickenham Rugby Football Union. The integration will also bring in customer loyalty and reward services for shoppers, including the ability for relevant vouchers to be automatically flagged and used during purchases, and functionality allowing a single PowaTag to buy a selection of products instantly.
Retail technology entrepreneur, e-commerce veteran and CEO of Powa Technologies Group, Dan Wagner, said: “With this combination of two innovative technology companies we will establish a position as the leading force in digital commerce worldwide. The integration of ZNAP technology with PowaTag will bring a phenomenal new scope to our provision, as well bringing enhanced functionality to its existing applications. By incorporating digital catalogues, coupons/vouchers, loyalty integration, and access control, and much wider product set, we are enabling true commercial freedom for both merchants and consumers.”
The ZNAP aquisition is being rolled out with launch client Pitney Bowes to enable instant payment for more than 23 billion utility bills a year. With Pitney Bowes facilitating 80 per cent of utility bills in the USA and more than half in Europe, Powa will reach tens of millions of new customers around the world. In addition, leading Taiwanese telecom provider Taiwan Mobile will also provide PowaTag payment options to its five million customers.
In the next three months, the MPayMe and Powa will be working to integrate technologies into a single unified and enhanced product offering. Backward compatibility will be preserved, and there will be no additional requirements for merchants to deploy the enhanced offering. A team of more than 50 experts in London and Hong Kong are currently working to deliver the world’s most advanced mobile commerce solution.
Alessandro Gadotti, founder and Group CEO of MPayMe, says: “The combination of Powa’s product offerings, PowaPOS, PowaWeb, and PowaTag, and the ZNAP™ mobile business platform will revolutionise global commerce, and we are very excited about the future as a single company. Together we can offer advanced functionality that is unrivalled anywhere in the world, and which has already been embraced by over 500 merchants and brands worldwide. Over the coming months you will see these merchants begin to deploy the technology and both merchants and consumers will begin to reap the benefits.”
