Google has been in talks with mobile payments service SoftCard over a buyout attempt for $100 million. The software giant is hoping SoftCard will gain favor with U.S. carriers AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile, all currently blocking Google Wallet from U.S. Android devices.

The three U.S. carriers partnered with SoftCard for the contactless payment solution, deciding to go against Google on its own platform. Even though SoftCard has not gained much popularity, the carriers have been able to mute Google Wallet's potential progress.

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SoftCard has around 60 employees according to TechCrunch, following recent layoffs at the firm. It also had to change its brand from ISIS, due to the Middle Eastern terrorist group taking the same name.

Even though SoftCard works in the same way as Apple Pay, it does not have the command over customers that Apple's own payment service does, and thus lacks active users.

Google is not the first company to approach SoftCard, Microsoft and PayPal have also reportedly offered buyout deals, even though the payment service is burning through its money.

The potential to work with U.S. carriers seems lucrative, plus SoftCard does offer some mobile payment expertize. The opportunity to acquire such a company for $100 million seems like a steal, even if it is currently sinking.

Apple Pay has shaken up the payments industry, forcing competitors like PayPal, Google and Facebook to become more interested in payments. It might also force U.S. carriers to actually care about what services customers are using, rather than simply blocking every service.

TagsSoftcard, payment service, mobile, NFC