SAP plans to acquire WalkMe to add that company’s digital adoption platforms (DAPs) and expand its own solutions that help customers on their digital transformation journeys.
The two companies entered into a definitive agreement for the acquisition, and subject to customary closing conditions, the acquisition is expected to close in the third quarter, SAP and WalkMe said in a Wednesday (June 5) press release.
“By acquiring WalkMe, we are doubling down on the support we provide our end users, helping them to quickly adopt new solutions and features to get the maximum value out of their IT investments,” Christian Klein, CEO and member of the executive board of SAP, said in the release.
WalkMe’s DAP solutions provide guidance and automation features that help users execute workflows across any number of applications, thereby helping organizations navigate constant technology change, according to the release.
These solutions work across any application, and they will continue to fully support non-SAP applications following the proposed acquisition, the release said.
With the proposed acquisition, WalkMe’s solutions will complement SAP’s Business Transformation portfolio, per the release.
In addition, WalkMe’s soon-to-be-launched artificial intelligence (AI) copilot will serve as an overlay to any application, and WalkMe’s adoption capabilities will be integrated with SAP’s own copilot, Joule, to aid all SAP customers, according to the release.
“This acquisition marks a significant milestone in our journey, providing us with the resources and customer base necessary to enhance our product offerings and expand our market reach,” Dan Adika, CEO of WalkMe, said in the release. “By leveraging SAP’s extensive ecosystem, we are poised to unlock substantial growth opportunities and deliver even greater value to our customers.”
Internal systems like human resources (HR) and customer relationship management (CRM) systems can be difficult to navigate, Rafael Sweary, president of WalkMe, told PYMNTS in an interview posted in 2018.
Machine learning (ML)-powered predictive analytics can reveal which users are going to fail to complete a process so the organization can get there to offer guidance in time, rather than allowing lost customers to struggle until they give up or call customer service in a temper, Sweary said.
Block’s Cash App is reportedly making progress in its efforts to offer banking services to customers who mostly use the app to make payments.
The number of the app’s users who have their paychecks directly deposited into their Cash App account rose by 25% year over year to reach 2.5 million in December, Bloomberg reported Thursday (April 3).
This is a key metric because those who have set up direct deposit are most likely to use the company’s other banking services, according to the report.
Cash App’s efforts are meant to expand its customer base from the underbanked people it has traditionally served to anyone earning up to $150,000 a year, the report said. It has 57 million active users.
“Our long-term goal is to be the primary provider of banking services to the vast majority of Americans,” Block Executive Officer and Business Lead Owen Jennings said, per the report. “In order to do that, you need to cross the chasm in terms of reputation and brand recognition from a simple peer-to-peer app to a full-fledged suite of banking services.”
The company’s most recent efforts to promote its banking services include a marketing campaign in 15 cities in January and approval from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to issue short-term consumer loans through Block’s Square Financial Services, the report said.
At the same time, Cash App faces challenges in drawing customers to its banking services. These include customers’ uncertainty about using the app for all their everyday banking; competition from FinTech rivals like Chime Financial, Robinhood Markets and PayPal Holdings’ Venmo; and a settlement with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in which the regulator found that Block’s investigations into unauthorized transactions on Cash App were “woefully incomplete,” according to the report.
Square Financial Services’ receipt of approval from the FDIC to make consumer loans directly to borrowers, using Cash App Borrow, represented a shift, PYMNTS reported last month. Before making the move, Square Financial Services focused on offering Square sellers business loans and savings accounts, and Block made the consumer loans through its external banking partner.
