Capital One is banking on a tool to help online shoppers find better prices to bring more holiday shopping transactions their way.
Capital One has acquired Wikibuy, a Texas-based startup that helps users find lower prices, coupons, and rewards as they shop online. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Wikibuy automates cross-site price comparisons in real time while consumers shop. The service, which has more than two million members, locates and applies active coupon codes at checkout and provides product price tracking and alerts.
Similar to navigation app Waze, when one customer finds a good price on a product, other customers who have looked at that product are notified of the savings available.
"We believe that the future of banking is in providing intelligent, real-time banking tools that proactively anticipate and deliver on what consumers need," Joe Poelinitz, senior vice president, U.S. card at Capital One Financial, said in a Wednesday press release.
"With Wikibuy, we've acquired an innovative startup that fits squarely within this objective. Together we can give our customers tools to help them save time, money, and the ability to shop with confidence," Poelinitz said.
Capital One has acquired other small technology firms in the past, including Bundle, BankOns, Adaptive Path, Level Money and Monsoon. In 2016 it acquired Paribus, a startup in a similar field to Wikibuy, that alerts users to online price drops.
