Seeking an ‘Integrated Mobile Offer,’ Ingenico Completes Takeover of Roam Data

Point-of-sale terminal maker Ingenico Group now owns all of Roam Data, a mobile POS company it first invested in in 2009.

France-based Ingenico says the Roam brand will continue to be used on products, but the company name will be wrapped up into Ingenico.

“With 100% of Roam, we will accelerate the deployment of a global and integrated mobile offer, enabling merchants to increasingly engage with their customers,” Jacques Guérin, executive vice president of smart terminals and mobile solutions at Ingenico Group, said in a press release. “This is a great opportunity to take Ingenico Mobile Solutions through its next phase of growth.”

Ingenico did not disclose what it paid to take complete ownership of Roam.

In 2009, Ingenico invested $6.5 million in Roam, which provides mobile payment services. Then in 2012, Ingenico took a controlling stake in Boston-based Roam, and replaced founder Will Graylin with Ken Paull.

Graylin went on to start LoopPay Inc., a contactless payment scheme that uses magnetic fields to complete transactions. Paull left Roam in 2014 and joined Cayan, formerly Merchant Warehouse, as chief revenue officer in October.

Ingenico says Roam’s sales personnel now are part of Ingenico’s sales team. It promoted David Szczepanski, to chief operating officer of its Ingenico Mobile Solutions unit, and appointed Chris Dismukes to senior vice president of mobile U.S. sales. Dismukes had been head of sales at Equinox Payments LLC, a Scottsdale, Ariz.-based POS equipment maker.