Wirecard, the global innovation leader for digital financial technology, and Sprint (NYSE: S), a leading US communications services company, today announced a new relationship that will integrate Wirecard’s unified commerce solutions into Sprint’s Curiosity™ Internet of Things (IoT) platform to deliver the “Internet of Payments”. The announcement was made at CES 2020. The two companies, brought together by SoftBank Investment Advisers, are collaborating to embed payment capabilities in IoT deployments, bringing added value to enterprise clients on a global scale.

Sprint’s Curiosity™ IoT platform represents a new standard in how enterprises manage and secure IoT devices and connectivity. The platform combines Curiosity™ Core, the first dedicated, distributed and virtualized IoT network, with Curiosity™ OS, an integrated IoT operating system, to bring networks to data collection sites and enable the future of commerce.

Worldwide IoT market revenue reached USD 212 billion in 2019, with worldwide expenditure projected to reach USD 1 trillion by 2022. Total worldwide IoT connected devices are projected to reach 75.44 billion by 2025, a fivefold increase from 2015.

Wirecard unified commerce solutions drive the digital transformation of retail by delivering a seamless payment experience across channels and beyond borders. Sprint is integrating these capabilities into Curiosity™ IoT, and the companies are jointly exploring opportunities across various market segments, as part of a broader collaboration.

Sprint and Wirecard will initially focus on the retail segment, in which they are working to define and deliver the retail experience of the future, across all channels, with a unified commerce approach. The joint capabilities enable merchants to meet current and future customer expectations with an intelligent, connected buying experience.

“We’re pleased to integrate Wirecard solutions into our robust IoT platform,” said Ivo Rook, Senior Vice President, IoT & Product Development for Sprint. “This opens up many commercial opportunities, and also delivers an unparalleled commerce solution for our global clients and their customers. As IoT becomes even more central to how enterprises run, we look forward to identifying new opportunities and use cases for these technologies.”

“Collaborating with Sprint is a tremendous opportunity to expand our collective reach and capabilities, plus meet a growing demand for commerce without barriers,” said Georg von Waldenfels, EVP Group Business Development at Wirecard. “Adding Wirecard unified commerce solutions to Sprint’s game-changing IoT technology is a significant step toward developing the shopping experience of the future and we look forward to all the possibilities this cooperation offers us.”