Amex, Groupon Invest in Mobile Payments Company SumUp

In an increasingly crowded mobile card reader market, American Express Co. and Groupon have given a double-digit million euro investment to SumUp.

"As one of the world's largest card issuers, American Express is at the forefront of driving innovation in payments. Groupon has proven that it is possible to build a company serving millions of small merchants worldwide in a short period of time,” says Daniel Klein, CEO of SumUp, in a May 28 press release. “This unique blend of experiences has been a driving factor for us in taking them on as new investors.”

The investment will be used for continued development of its technology, including building out its end-to-end payment system and a more advanced point of sale system. SumUp did not disclose the exact amount of the investment.

"We are pleased to have the opportunity to invest in SumUp, whom we've identified as an early leader in the emerging mobile payments space outside the U.S.,” says Jason Harinstein, senior vice president of corporate development at Groupon, in the release. “We share a vision to transform the way local merchants interact with their customers and have confidence in the SumUp team's ability to execute against this vision."

Small businesses in Europe have plenty of options when looking for a way to accept credit and debit cards with their mobile devices. SumUp competes with iZettle, Payleven and mPowa in Europe. American companies are starting to look internationally as well. Intuit Inc.’s GoPayment card-reader and Square's card reader are both available in Canada, for example, and Square began offering its reader in Japan last week.

iZettle has also received funding from Amex.

SumUp's investment will also be used to further the company’s expansion into new regions.

Last week, SumUp announced its move into Russia with a partnership with Svyaznoy Group, one of the country’s largest card-issuing banks and smartphone retailer. SumUp is available in Germany, Austria, Spain, the Netherlands, the U.K., France, Italy, Ireland, Belgium and Portugal.

SumUp received a double-digit million Euro investment in 2012 as well. All of the company’s existing investors, including Shortcut Ventures, Tengelmann Ventures and b-to-v Partners, contributed further alongside Groupon and Amex.

In April, SumUp, in partnership with Revel Systems, enabled merchants to accept plastic cards with iPads.