Former Google Wallet chief Osama Bedier has turned up as a director at PayRange, a startup that builds dongles that can be attached to vending machines to enable them to accept mobile payments. The move was revealed in SEC filings, spotted by GeekWire, that also show that the Portland-based company has raised $2.6 million in funding.
Google poached Bedier in early 2011 from PayPal to head up its efforts to break the mobile money market but he quit after two years in the job during which the operation failed to take off.
PayRange was founded by Paresh Patel, an unattended retail veteran, to provide operators and consumers with a simple and secure mobile payment and loyalty solution for laundry, vending, amusement, and other small ticket merchants. PayRange is the North American leader in mobile payments for unattended retail, with over 3 million users and a network of machines throughout 350 cities and towns in the US and Canada. Find out more at www.payrange.com.
