Groupon took another step away from its daily deals origin Friday, expanding its Groupon Payments swipe-and-dongle mPayments platform to its Android application.
Considering around half of all smartphones in the U.S. market today run on Android, it’s a move that gives Groupon considerably more heft in the mobile payments space as they continue to change their business model in the wake of a disappointing IPO in November of 2011.
Groupon Payments, which serves as Groupon’s mobile payments answer to the likes of Square and others, originally launched only for iOS in September. In addition to standard card-swiping capabilities, Groupon Payments also comes with value-added features such as analytics, ROI tracking, tip addition and more.
“We’re thrilled to bring the powerful features of the Groupon Merchants app and the cost savings and convenience of Groupon Payments to more merchants with smart phones,” said Gene Alston, General Manager of Groupon Payments. “This app is an effective tool for merchants looking to process payments and track customer growth.”
While the Groupon Payments is now available for Android handsets, Groupon has yet to release its iPad Breadcrumb app for Android tablets. The company has not announced plans to expand to Windows Phone or Windows 8.
Groupon’s mPOS expansion wasn’t the only move they made this weekend: the company also bought Glassmap, a location-detecting app, for an undisclosed amount. Acquiring a location-based service like Glasssmap makes plenty of sense for Groupon, which can use the information to send more accurately targeted deals to consumers.
“Groupon has revolutionized how people today use technology to interact with the real world, and that’s why we’re so excited to join them. Together, we’ll be able to create even more amazing products,” read a Glassmap blog post.
To read more about Groupon Payments’ expansion, click here.
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