Synchrony Picks Up Loop Commerce / GiftNow to Improve Mobile Gifting

Mergers and acquisitions go on fairly routinely, and in the mobile payments space, it’s never really a surprise. Recently, Loop Commerce sent word our way about one such arrangement between itself and Synchrony, a move that should help ramp up Loop Commerce’s growth potential.

Synchrony’s acquisition of Loop Commerce, the reports note, will serve not only as a way to improve the company’s growth prospects, but also better handle operations that are currently in place like GiftNow and even the overall “GiftCommerce” category. Terms of the deal, however, weren’t part of the announcement at its release.

Synchrony’s presence in the retail and digital commerce fields should also prove helpful; the company accounts over $130 billion in sales financed to its credit, which should give it necessary insight into the overall field.

Synchrony’s CEO and president Margaret Keane noted “The acquisition of Loop Commerce allows Synchrony to move into an adjacent space by expanding our suite of products and services for retailers and consumers. Our disciplined approach to growth and investments is designed to help us better execute in the digitally transforming world. The acquisition of Loop Commerce will deepen our bench of digital talent and create new capabilities in gifting, as we continue working toward creating the most compelling consumer experience at every touch point.”

It might be a bridge too far to refer to mobile gifting as its own sector of mobile commerce—it’s really just buying things via mobile and then giving them to someone else instead of keeping them—but it’s still an area worth pointing out. After all, we routinely send text messages and the like to friends and family, so why not have a way to include a gift in such media? Why not be able to send, say, an Olive Garden gift card out to old friends for a wedding anniversary gift? Why not be able to offer something similar at work as a morale-building “good job” gift?

Mobile gifting could indeed have a role going forward, and with Synchrony now backing Loop Commerce and GiftNow, the combined effort could prove to be a major part of that new role. Only time will tell in the end, but for now, it’s a good combination that should prove a winner.