E-commerce service provider
eBay Inc.'s
(
EBAY
) existing payment platform, PayPal has acquired Duff Research.
The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Sunnyvale-based Duff Research is a mobile app development
company and has built about 40 mobile apps for companies that
include
TiVo Inc.
(
TIVO
) and other Fortune 500 companies. The company provides software
development and user experience expertise for the mobile app
space.
Management stated that all 18 engineers from Duff Research
will join the PayPal technology team to help PayPal's main
digital wallet product become more user friendly.
This acquisition will help to support PayPal's dominant
position in mobile payment systems. The acquisition will likely
put PayPal in a better competitive position against rival mobile
payment systems such as
Google Inc's
(
GOOG
) digital wallet, Isis, Square and others.
As smartphone migration continues, eBay is seeing great
opportunities in the mobile space. The Duff Research acquisition
is yet another move by PayPal to strengthen its position in the
mobile payments space.
PayPal, which accounts for almost half of eBay's annual
revenues, has expanded beyond its online payments service. Its
point-of-sale technology is gaining a lot of traction as the
company has already established partnerships with 23 reputed
brands, including Home Depot Inc. and Office Depot Inc. of which
12 have agreed to accept PayPal as a payment mode.
This January, PayPal announced that it will work with NCR to
integrate PayPal into several of its products, including NCR's
Convenience-Go (C-Go) app for gas stations and convenience
stores. This will allow shoppers to buy fuel and food and pay for
car washes using their smartphones.
We believe that eBay is taking all the necessary measures for
continued growth in the mobile payment business in the near
future. Both Payments and Marketplaces are showing improving
trends compared with the year-ago quarter, indicating its
changing business profile.
Aided by growth in its PayPal business and mobile commerce,
eBay recorded a strong fourth quarter with both revenues of $3.99
billion and earnings of 63 cents exceeding expectations. eBay's
PayPal remained the star performer, generating total payment
volume (TPV) growth of 18.0% and 24.3%, respectively from the
previous and year-ago quarters. PayPal added nearly 2 million
accounts a month in the fourth quarter, representing the
company's fastest active account growth rate in years.
Though eBay's payment business shows great promise,
competition may be expected to pick up as banks and other
companies announce their own payment systems and Googledigital
wallet gathers steam.
Currently, eBay shares carry a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Online
travel company,
Priceline.com Inc.
(
PCLN
), has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) and is worth considering.
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