Italian newspapers are reporting that Amazon has moved to expand its mobile presence by acquiring the mobile payments startup Gopago. The Silicon Valley-based firm, started by Italian co-founders Vincenzo di Nicola and Leo Rocco, gives consumers an iOS or Android mobile app to pre-pay for goods before picking them up in-store, and retailers a point-of-sale system to process the orders.

JP Morgan Chase is Gopago's lead investor, according to Tech Crunch.

Tech Crunch has been unable to confirm the deal, but noted that Di Nicola is telling the Italian papers that Amazon wants to put Gopago at the heart of a new, "ambitious" project. As the site notes, Amazon's mobile payment methods are now largely limited to in-app payments on apps sold in the Amazon app store, and APIs that let third parties sell Amazon products in their apps.

But the site reported last year that Amazon was working on a Square competitor, and there is speculation that Gopago could be part of that plan.

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