SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Verifone (NYSE: PAY), the world’s leader in payments and commerce solutions, today announced an expansion of its taxi and car-for-hire electronic hailing (e-hail), payment and media business with the acquisition of Curb®, a business that connects people in approximately 60 U.S. cities with rides from professional, insured, and fully-licensed taxi drivers. Using Curb’s e-hail app, passengers take more than 100,000 rides each month. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Based in Alexandria, Virginia, Curb has partnered with more than 90 cab companies and provides e-hail access to 35,000 cars from a smartphone app that combines hailing and payment. Curb’s media-enabled payment terminals are installed in approximately 15,000 cars, adding to the approximately 40,000 U.S. taxis already equipped with Verifone payment terminals.
The acquisition enhances Verifone’s e-hail and payment app business with additional technology and an expanded network of vehicles and drivers across the United States. Curb’s e-hail app for iPhone and Android devices includes web- and SMS text-based booking tools that will enable Verifone Taxi Systems to aggressively improve and scale its e-hail offering as well as its complete suite of taxi technology solutions, empowering its taxi clients to more effectively compete with transportation network companies.
VERIFONE BRINGS STABILITY AND EXPERTISE TO GROWING TAXI E-HAIL MARKET
“We are combining Curb’s booking technology set and geographic footprint with Verifone Taxi Systems’ global presence and expertise in secure payment, and cloud-based dispatch and fleet management tools,” said Amos Tamam, Senior Vice President, Global Taxi Systems for Verifone. “This will allow us to continue our push into the growing market for apps that provide riders with the convenience of connecting to professional vehicles and drivers through their mobile phone. We’re now even better equipped to offer convenient, dependable, and secure ride booking tools for the taxi operators, drivers and passengers that, for our 2015 fiscal year, will have participated in more than 180 million trips in Verifone-equipped taxis in the U.S.”
“Passengers are looking for the assurance that they are hailing safe, regulated, insured vehicles,” said Sanders Partee, Curb co-founder and president. “Verifone has the geographic reach and critical mass of connected vehicles to ensure that Curb can provide the safest, most reliable rides to consumers looking for an e-hail and mobile payment option.”
DRIVING INNOVATION IN TAXI AND CAR-FOR-HIRE
Together, Verifone and Curb power more than 90,000 taxis globally, including over 45,000 media-enabled vehicles in the U.S. When launched in 2007, Curb (formerly TaxiMagic) became the first mobile app for booking a ride, while Verifone was the first to deliver a taxi payment application with the launch of Way2ride™ two years ago, followed by integrated e-hailing functionality this year.
Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 for VeriFone Systems, Inc.
This press release includes certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on management's current expectations or beliefs and on currently available competitive, financial and economic data and are subject to uncertainty and changes in circumstances. Actual results may vary materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements herein due to changes in economic, business, competitive, technological and/or regulatory factors, and other risks and uncertainties affecting the operation of the business of VeriFone Systems, Inc., including many factors beyond our control. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those associated with: successful rollout of our Way2ride taxi e-hail feature, market acceptance of our product and services offerings, execution of our strategic plan and business initiatives and whether the expected benefits of our plan and initiatives are achieved, short product cycles and rapidly changing technologies, our ability to maintain competitive leadership position with respect to our payment solution offerings, our assumptions, judgments and estimates regarding the impact on our business of the continued uncertainty in the global economic environment and financial markets, our ability to successfully integrate acquired businesses into our business and operations, our ability to protect against fraud, the status of our relationship with and condition of third parties such as our contract manufacturers, distributors and key suppliers upon whom we rely in the conduct of our business, our dependence on a limited number of customers, the conduct of our business and operations internationally, our ability to effectively hedge our exposure to foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations, and our dependence on a limited number of key employees. For a further list and description of the risks and uncertainties affecting the operations of our business, see our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our annual report on Form 10-K and our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. The forward-looking statements speak only as of the date such statements are made. Verifone is under no obligation to, and expressly disclaims any obligation to, update or alter its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, changes in assumptions or otherwise.
About Verifone
Verifone is transforming everyday transactions into opportunities for connected commerce. We’re connecting payment devices to the cloud—merging the online and in-store shopping experience and creating the next generation of digital engagement between merchants and consumers. We are built on a 30-year history of uncompromised security with 27 million terminals deployed worldwide. Our people are known as trusted experts that work with our clients and partners, helping to solve their most complex payments challenges. We have clients and partners in more than 150 countries, including the world’s best-known retail brands, financial institutions and payment providers.
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