Beleaguered company Groupon Inc (NASDAQ:GRPN) on
Wednesday released a mobile payments service that will enable payments via
credit cards on mobile devices.
The shares in the company, that have plunged nearly 75
percent from its IPO price in November, rose 14 percent on the news closing at
$5.34 on that day.
The daily deals site, which was once hailed as the new
Internet king, introduced Groupon Payments with which customers can make
payments for any credit card transactions, not just for its deals.
After venturing into the area of direct sale of goods
with Groupon Goods, the company is now getting into another area which has a
huge potential, that is, payments.
The company that has been hit by a downturn in Europe,
where customer confidence has dipped in the last one year, is scrabbling around
for new ideas and ways to shore up revenues.
Earlier this month the company also started tie-ups
with merchants overseas who wanted a wider market for their goods while giving
customers a wider choice of products.
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The new payments service allowed merchants to swipe
their credit cards through customers' iPhones or iPads.
Merchants pay 15 cents per swipe plus an additional
transaction fee that depends on the credit card used.
While it’s too early to say whether all these
initiatives taken by the company will be changing its fortunes, its share
prices are certainly reacting positively and have surged a bit this month.
Revenues of the company have also topped $1 billion.
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