Virtual Piggy rebrands as REGO to signal its expansion

Virtual Piggy has undergone a few changes of direction and brand in the past while formulating payments applications for the under-18 market.

This time, the Palm Beach, Fla.-based company says it is changing its name to REGO Payment Architectures to reflect its expansion into broader payments services. In late 2013, Virtual Piggy changed its brand name to Oink as its services began focusing on older youths and a move to in-store payments, but kept Virtual Piggy as the publicly traded name of the company.

REGO's new operating unit, Oink Inc., will continue to serve the youth market. REGO is not an acronym, but rather a Latin word with multiple meanings, among them "to administer" or "to guide," the company said.

Two years ago, Virtual Piggy added a P-to-P payment option to the Oink wallet, citing the need for teens to have easy ways to receive allowance from parents or payments for baby-sitting or chores. Around that same time, the company hired Viant Capital LLC as a financial advisor, signaling its intention to potentially seek more investors or a buyer, or explore expansion strategies.

As REGO, the company intends to "create something bigger here" in using its proprietary technology to expand beyond the original market served through Oink, CEO John Coyne said in a March 16 press release. "We believe we have an opportunity to create revolutionary advancements in payment architecture," Coyne added.

Through artificial intelligence techniques, REGO has the capability to adapt to a broad range of payment markets and users, Coyne said.

"My goal was to transform the company from a card payment system to a mobile payment platform," he added. "I wanted to create more than just a payment system for children; I wanted to create a business with multiple revenue sources that broaden our potential base of users and assure our investors we are not just a one-product company."

The core technology for REGO will include real-time regulatory oversight software and a contract model that allows creation of specific boundary conditions for its use.

With the company restructuring, among other future uses, REGO will discuss its potential as a payment control for the complex welfare programs in Europe, Coyne said.