SumUp is a mobile payments company headquartered in London, but it is rapidly expanding.

Known for its mobile credit card readers, payment tools, as well as enabling customers to start online stores, it has found a large customer base.

In fact, the company has three million merchants signed up across Europe, the US, and Latin America.

The company has already drawn attention as it raised a total of $1.4 billion in equity and debt financing since its inception in 2012. Notably, the company has seen investments from the likes of Goldman Sachs, Singapore’s Temasek, and Bain Capital.

SumUp has now made an important acquisition that will see it focus its efforts in the US market.

Fivestars has been acquired by SumUp for $317 million in a blend of cash and stock as the latter attempts to tackle the US market and compete with giant financial platforms like PayPal and Square.

Fivestars was designed to enable merchants to set up reward schemes for their customers. It had managed to attract 12,000 customers and made $3 billion in annual sales.

Of course, even with this acquisition, the competition in the financial market is still stiff. Particularly, as PayPal has a similar offering through its acquisition of iZettle. Additionally, Square has comparable quick and easy payment products.

Despite this, Andrew Helms, US managing director at SumUp, told CNBC, that there was room for all of these companies:

“I would say where we focus and excel is truly on the smallest merchants. We’re not looking to go into enterprise, we’re not going more upstream.”

With that said, Helms conceded: “We’re [SumUp] probably underestimating the shift back to in-store and brick and mortar”

Victor Ho, Fivestars’ co-founder, and CEO, revealed that he will be staying on as part of the San Francisco team who have all kept their jobs as part of the acquisition.

In a press statement, Ho said: “We founded Fivestars to give small businesses the opportunity to thrive in the digital economy, and over the years, we’ve achieved just that.

“Understanding that SumUp shares this mission, it was an easy decision to partner, and together, we look forward to supporting a retail market that champions small business success.”

Next steps for SumUp

Marc-Alexander Christ, SumUp co-founder, noted: “Our global community of merchants has battled through lockdowns and volatility and we’re confident that this acquisition will further energize the US’s recovering small business economy.

“Now is the time to make sure our presence is as strong in the US as it is in Europe and, by acquiring Fivestars, SumUp will deliver for US-based merchants as it has in other international markets.”