Twitter could be set to launch an integrated online payments and shopping service following its acquisition of a leading ecommerce start-up.
Specific terms of the deal to acquire San Francisco-based CardSpring were not disclosed, but the deal could see Twitter include direct purchase options in tweets, or allow commercial accounts to sell directly to customers through the site.
CardSpring currently develops an application programming interface (API) that allows developers to make online applications for credit, credit, and other types of financial transactions, which can also extend to services such as loyalty cards.
The company, which received $10m in private equity investment in 2012, confirmed the news in a blog post, saying that it was excited to become part of the Twitter family.
"We started CardSpring with a vision to develop a new type of platform that enables digital publishers and retailers to work with the payment industry to create a new generation of commerce experiences for hundreds of millions of offline shoppers," it said.
"We see the intersection of payments and digital media as an opportunity to revolutionize how consumers use credit and debit cards, while helping retailers to connect and communicate with their offline shoppers – much in the same way the Internet has enabled online stores to create relationships with their online customers."
Starbucks has already developed a "tweet-a-coffee" service which connects your Twitter and Starbucks accounts, allowing users to send a $5 e-gift card to a friend to spend in their nearest store. Twitter will now be looking to expand on such services with a system for credit card entry, meaning you may soon be able to tweet all sorts of products or even cash to your friends.
In a post on Twitter’s official blog, the social media site’s head of commerce, Nathan Hubbard, said that the move was part of "the future of commerce on Twitter".
"We’re confident the CardSpring team and the technology they’ve built are a great fit with our philosophy regarding the best ways to bring in-the-moment commerce experiences to our users," he added.
"Twitter has always been a vibrant environment for users to discover product recommendations and promotions from artists, experts, brands and friends."
