Groupon launches POS app to expand payments service for merchants to iPad

Update, Tues, May 14: It looks like the Groupon POS was launched prematurely and has now been pulled from the App Store. However, today Groupon appears to have rolled out the app as the new Breadcrumb POS app that will now be the face of its payments service for merchants. The old Breadcrumb app, which Groupon acquired last year, will now be called “Breadcrumb Pro”.

It appears Groupon is today launching a mobile payments app dubbed “Groupon POS” that will rival Square’s Register app and allow merchants to accept and manage payments directly from an iPad. The company has yet to make an official announcement but the app is already live on the App Store here.

Last year Groupon launched a similar app for iPhone called Groupon Merchants alongside its Groupon Payments service that allows business owners to accept payments through a credit card reader available for iOS devices.

The new Groupon POS app appears to be a scaled back version of the Breadcrumb POS app that the company acquired last year with the iTunes page noting that it best suited “for a wide variety of merchants from cafes and delis, to salons, spas, and florists.”

The iTunes page also says the app will work “with an optional cash drawer and printer,” although its unclear if Groupon plans to sell the hardware directly to customers like Square recently started doing with its business in a box offer.

We’ll update with a link to Groupon’s official announcement when/if it makes one.