Square (opens in new tab), the American financial services provider, has acquired Spanish P2P payments app Verse in a move to boost its growing range of cash transfer services. Square already has Cash, its own consumer-focused app currently duelling with PayPal rival Venmo (opens in new tab) in the digital payments marketplace.
Square’s Cash app allows individuals and businesses to send and receive payments, so the purchase of Verse bolsters its growing ecosystem of digital banking (opens in new tab) products. Verse allows users to load cash balances onto the app and boasts a range of digital wallet features including a handy bill-splitting feature that can be used via your smartphone.
Following the acquisition, Verse will form part of the Cash App organization at Square in a collaboration that will see both sides pooling their resources. Verse has a sizeable following in Europe and, according to Square, will continue to operate as a largely independent businesses concern.
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Square's payment power
Headquartered in San Francisco, Square was founded in 2009 by Twitter’s Jack Dorsey and entrepreneur Jim McKelvey and brought its first app and services to market in 2010. The Square Reader (opens in new tab) has since become a firm favourite with small business (opens in new tab) owners as it enables affordable credit card payment processing simply by connecting the device to a mobile phone or tablet.
Square has gone on to develop the Square Stand, which allows business owners to turn an Apple iPad into a mobile point of sale (opens in new tab) terminal. The company has subsequently broadened its appeal with more products aimed at making it easier for business owners to process payments, using a range of card present, contactless or web-based transaction tools including the Square Terminal (opens in new tab) and Square Online Store.
In addition, the financial services company has developed a range of hardware solutions for more specific locations such as food and drink outlets. Square has also built up a sizeable apps marketplace within its website, with a range of software applications (opens in new tab) that can be paired up with its core products, so the Verse acquisition sounds like a good fit.
It’ll join the range of account and e-commerce apps that currently include the likes of WooCommerce (opens in new tab), Wix (opens in new tab) and Xero (opens in new tab) that can be found alongside home grown applications on the Square website.
In a post on the Square website, the company outlined its interest in Verse, citing a strong team and the similarly innovative approach taken by the peer to peer payments business towards serving customers.
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