It’s safe to say that competition in the mobile payment space is heating up, it appears as though is looking to bolster its offerings. TechCrunch reports that the Mountain View-based company is reportedly considering buying mobile payments firm Softcard.

According to TechCrunch’s report, the deal may cost less than $100 million—a fairly small purchase for a company that spent $3.2 billion for Nest.  

Softcard is a joint effort between AT&T, T-Mobile, Verzion to provide a carrier-backed mobile payments system,  according to TechCrunch, over 200,000 merchants accept payments made via Softcard’s Android ndows one app.

y this matters: On the surface, it’s unclear what, exactly, would do with Softcard, given the company has its own mobile payments system in llet. But when you consider the fact that AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon have all worked to block llet from most of its phones, ’s motives become clearer.

In that context, purchasing Softcard makes more sense, at under $100 million, it would be a veritable steal for . The fact that would add to its merchant network userbase is icing on the cake.

Softcard’s rough ride

reports indicate that Softcard—which originally went by the rather unfortunate name of Isis Mobile llet—has had to endure various financial struggles since it launched in 2010. According to Recode reports, the company recently laid off 60 employees,  TechCrunch notes that, according to its sources, “at one point the company’s burn rate was around half a million dollars per day, or around $15 million per month.” These sorts of ongoing difficulties may play a role in Softcard’s relatively low asking price.

This is far from a done deal—TechCrunch notes that neither nor Softcard would comment about a potential acquisition—but from an outsider’s perspective, this sounds like a deal that would make sense for everyone involved.