Apple rumored to have engaged troubled payments startup Clinkle in acquisition talks

Posted:
in General Discussion edited May 2015
A report claims seven employees at much maligned payments startup Clinkle quit on Friday citing in part CEO Lucas Duplan's withholding of information about supposed acquisition talks with Apple.




Sources close to the matter told TechCrunch that Duplan's failure to inform employees about Apple's interest in Clinkle was just one of many recent problems for the company, which has yet to produce a viable product since its founding in 2011. Clinkle made headlines in 2013 after landed more than $30 million in funding from big-name investors.

The startup initially focused on an ultrasound-based mobile payment technology, but after years without a tangible product, Clinkle pivoted to a debit card system called "Treats" that pays out lottery style rewards. Not yet available publicly, users are issued special cards that accrue Treats every seven purchases. This Treat is then sent to a friend who has the chance to be reimbursed up to $25 on their next purchase.

Apple reportedly met with a team from Clinkle in February to assess the viability of integrating the rewards system technology into Apple Pay. The team also met with Google, but the search giant was reportedly not interested in pursuing an acquisition. According to the report, Apple, Google, Amazon, Samsung and Visa all showed interest at some point.

Duplan supposedly kept employees out of the loop, dangling hope of an acquisition by a major tech player as incentive to stay. Duplan was still name dropping Apple to keep employees motivated months after the February meeting, prompting some to suspect he rejected an initial offer as too low. Two high-level executives were supposedly fired after making inquiries into the rumored Apple deal.

Over the intervening weeks, Duplan abandoned the debit card platform in favor of a mobile API for business-to-business rewards in a bid to gain leverage over Apple, the report said. The idea was that Apple would have to acquire Clinkle if it didn't want the technology to go competitors.
With respect to [M&A], I can't confirm or deny that any conversations have taken place or are taking place. Secondly, today we indeed did have a planned staff restructuring, and that's actually part of a greater reorganization and cost abatement plan which we've been looking at doing for a while now.

And then finally...the level of consumer engagement around the card specifically has not gained the traction quickly enough for us to continue pusuing [sic] it. That being said, the Treats concept shows terrific promise, and so what we're focusing on right now is what's the best way to actually commercialize that.
Rumors that Apple would roll a rewards system into Apple Pay hit shortly after it launched last October, with some speculating the feature would help the service stand out in the nascent payments sector.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 18
    Might be a case of buying the tech and letting the people go. Not sure this is a very Apple-ish culture.
  • Reply 2 of 18
    michael scripmichael scrip Posts: 1,916member
    [QUOTE]but after years without a tangible product...[/QUOTE]

    Ummmm.... Clinkle ?

    That name might have been part of the problem.

    I know names are tough to come up with... but that has got to be one of the worst.

    Meanwhile... Square named their app "Cash"
  • Reply 3 of 18
    robin huberrobin huber Posts: 3,949member
    Yikes, sounds like a sketchy guy and a gimmicky product. The whole thing smells fishy. Hope Apple passes. And if they really think they need some kind of cheesy rewards scheme, do their own. The basic idea can't be patentable.
  • Reply 4 of 18
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    I don't believe a word of this. In fact, it sounds like a rumor a desperate CEO would start in a last ditch attempt to get attention.
  • Reply 5 of 18
    jungmarkjungmark Posts: 6,926member
    Why would Apple buy them? It makes no sense.
  • Reply 6 of 18
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    jungmark wrote: »
    Why would Apple buy them? It makes no sense.

    No, it doesn't make sense. It's very fishy.
  • Reply 7 of 18
    adamwadamw Posts: 114guest
    Sounds like a sinking ship. Maybe they have some patents and tech that Apple wants.
  • Reply 8 of 18
    williamhwilliamh Posts: 1,032member
    Doesn't sound like the company has anything at all. No technology. No customers. No particularly genius employees. Their "product" sounds like little more than crap ideas someone might come up with in a few minutes over a pitcher of beer.
  • Reply 9 of 18
    notienotie Posts: 7member
    I too met with Apple. Signed up for a Genius Bar appointment. Not sure what all the fuss is.
  • Reply 10 of 18
    lord amhranlord amhran Posts: 902member
    Am I the only one thinking this company's whole business model seems to be based on a Ponzi scheme?
  • Reply 11 of 18
    robin huberrobin huber Posts: 3,949member
    adamw wrote: »
    Sounds like a sinking ship. Maybe they have some patents and tech that Apple wants.

    Agree. Perhaps there is a diamond in this pile of stink that would save them lots of time and effort to work around. If so, I hope they don't make this guy too rich to get it.
  • Reply 12 of 18
    applesauce007applesauce007 Posts: 1,698member

    If Apple made an offer to pay back the investors for the Stanford-based engineering team, then they must have had a good team.  Obviously the product / idea sucked and it couldn't be released and Google rejected it.  

     

    Quote:

    Essentially, users would earn a Treat for every seventh purchase with their Clinkle debit card, which earned the startup interchange fees that typically go to the card issuer. These Treats could be sent to friends, and when they made their next purchase up to $25 with their Clinkle card, they could win a full refund of what they paid. Sort of like a social slot machine, Clinkle hoped to seduce users with the chance to win its little lottery.


     

    Now that the team is broken up, forget it!  Duplan is screwed and deservingly so.  He cared only about himself and destroyed the team.  What a greedy clown of a leader!  He's going to lose some money and hopefully learn something about the value of a good team.

  • Reply 13 of 18
    konqerrorkonqerror Posts: 685member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Michael Scrip View Post



    Ummmm.... Clinkle ?

    That name might have been part of the problem.

     

    It's a good name if you realize their original product was supposed to make a "clinkle" sound to pay.

  • Reply 14 of 18
    michael scripmichael scrip Posts: 1,916member
    konqerror wrote: »
    It's a good name if you realize their original product was supposed to make a "clinkle" sound to pay.

    "Clinkle" isn't a word. So there is no such thing as a "clinkle sound"

    The word "tinkle" actually refers to a light metallic sound... but most people would know that it's slang for urinating.

    I still maintain that "clinkle" is a terrible name.

    :D
  • Reply 15 of 18
    calicali Posts: 3,494member
    "Clinkle" isn't a word. So there is no such thing as a "clinkle sound"

    The word "tinkle" actually refers to a light metallic sound... but most people would know that it's slang for urinating.

    I still maintain that "clinkle" is a terrible name.

    :D

    *clink*
  • Reply 16 of 18
    maestro64maestro64 Posts: 5,043member
    First, when a company is in conversations about being acquired top management is not allowed to share that information with employees Apple would not allow it nor would the companies investors. Employees are always last to know.
  • Reply 17 of 18
    Obviously the product / idea sucked and it couldn't be released and Google rejected it.  

    Google is probably hard at work on a rewards system just like it called Google Rewards+.
  • Reply 18 of 18
    cali wrote: »
    *clink*

    400
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