Square Steps Up Payment Hardware by Buying Kili Technology

March 13, 2024 by
Square Steps Up Payment Hardware by Buying Kili Technology

With the mobile payments system a market in a nearly constant state of flux, there’s a lot going on at any given time as companies advance in the field, take and lose market share, and bring out new innovation geared toward improving that position.

Square is proving no different, as they’ve made an important new acquisition to bolster its product line: Kili Technology.

Kili Technology is a startup in Toronto that focuses heavily on hardware, dealing in electronic and silicon design as well as software design, with a particular focus on the mobile payments industry.

Comprised largely of veterans in the field, from SecureKey alum Afshin Rezayee to IBM’s Greg Wolfond, the company offers up complete hardware solutions—the so-called system on a chip (SoC)—to drive mobile payments.

The SoCs in question provide what’s known as Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS)-grade security to payment systems, as well as near-field communication (NFC) transmission features.

This makes such systems perfect for in-store terminals, and that’s where Square’s involvement makes a particular note of sense.

That alone would be reason enough for Square to get involved, but it actually steps up from there.

Kili holds a wide array of patents in payments technology, has created firmware for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), and even made reference designs for several different mobile payment systems.

That’s a lot of firepower, and considering that Square will not only have access to the systems already made, but also to the people who designed said systems, that may well give Square a particular leg up.

The cash terms of the deal weren’t announced, but one term was revealed: Kili Technology’s Toronto office would now become a second Canadian office for Square, matching up to the Kitchener-Waterloo office opened nearly a year ago.

The arrival of Apple Pay into the mobile payments market, with others ready to follow, has really shaken up the market.

Companies that may have had the payments market on lock are now forced to step up their game significantly to keep pace with a company that has just about everything going for it, and we’re seeing that throughout the industry.

PayPal bought Paydiant in a bid to step up its own offering, and now we’re seeing Google get back into the fray as well as Samsung with its Samsung Pay system.

We have dedicated device makers taking advantage of install bases and infrastructures to get the most out of the market, so even long-time firms with established user bases will have to scramble to keep the market they have already.

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