Apple could well have missed out on a crucial ally in its attempt to conquer the mobile commerce market, following the news that it tried to buy payment provider Square to power its Apple Pay service.
Sources with knowledge of the deal also revealed that Square ended the acquisition talks due to the price Apple was willing to pay, with the iPhone manufacturer offering only $3bn, around half of Square’s expected valuation of $6bn.
This latter figure was achieved at the end of last month, when Square raised $100m in capital to take its valuation to a new high.
The two companies were reportedly in talks before Apple’s launch event last week, but executives at Square were unwilling to establish a new product that might compete with their own offerings.
This was despite Apple showing off a software register, restaurant and spa booking services and a payment system for iPhones, in the form of Apple Pay.
Square, which was founded in 2009 by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, offers businesses a detachable card reader which lets smartphones process credit and debit card payments. The company is expected to process around $30bn this year.
Following Square’s rejection, Apple turned to competitor Stripe to be the company’s payments processing partner for Apple Pay.
Apple Pay will allow users to pay for purchases at Apple’s partner retail stores through the user’s iPhone 6 or Apple Watch.
