Perhaps lost amongst the chatter about today’s announcement of the Facebook/Bing partnership was another Facebook announcement that will give a huge boost to online payments firm PlaySpan. The company will provide payment options for Facebook’s expanding online gaming platform, which is a big deal considering that the potential payments volume for PlaySpan through the world’s largest social network is enormous.
Santa Clara, Calif., based PlaySpan was founded in 2006, and by focusing on gaming has since struck deals with thousands of gaming sites and virtual worlds. Its flagship product is UltimatePay, which basically offers users multiple payment methods for gaming sites. They also offer a pre-paid card available at retail outlets. They’re international too—the company’s service is currently available in 180 countries.
While obviously not an early-stage startup, PlaySpan has still been raising money—most recently an $18 million Series C, led by Vodafone Ventures and Softbank in August. Other investors include Easton Capital, Menlo Ventures, STIC and Novel TMT Ventures. More on the Facebook partnership, from TechCrunch: Facebook Taps PlaySpan’s UltimatePay To Offer 20 More Ways To Pay For Credits
