May 17, 2012, 11:14 AM —
After 50,000 customers sign up in native Sweden, iZettle goes after the UK mobile payment market.
In America, we have Square, but that company hasn't jumped the pond yet. Swedish company iZettle has at least jumped the Channel with their just-announced beta test in the UK. Using a different, sturdier dongle plugged into the iPhone's multi-pin dock connector at the bottom rather than the headphone plug on the top like Square, iZettle is built for the European chip cards rather than the US swipe cards. They use a "chip and sign" process, not chip and PIN, and you sign the iPhone with your fingertip.
Like Square, iZettle will take 2.75 to 3.75 percent of each transaction amount as their fee, and is going after vendors with low volume that are new to credit cards. The invitation-only beta test in the UK accepts cards from MasterCard, American Express, and Diners Club. Venture funding for iZettle has totaled about $16.4 million so far.
Continental kudos
I have used it on several occasions, as a payer. It works great.
yesbabyyess on news.ycombinator.com
The idea is just brilliant, and it's compliant with the European set of laws that require POS companies to use our Chips instead of the magnetic stripe
Alessandro Longoni on techcrunch.com
Looks good. I always thought the Square dongle looked a bit flimsy. This looks much more professional.
quarterto on news.ycombinator.com
Business angles
I'd love to be in your beta program. Let me know.
Adrien Cusinberche on techcrunch.com
The legal agreement is a mess, they even warn that your data can be transferred to countries where privacy laws are not in par with european standards and data is stored for 7 years
anemic on news.ycombinator.com
Interesting to note that it's a Mastercard/Amex trial - it'll need to be more universal to really scale, given Visa's dominant position in debit.
Philip McCarthy-Clarke on finextra.com
Considerations
Heads up, If you're an American going to Europe, regular swipe only credit cards won't work as often here.
rmc on news.ycombinator.com
For them to include a PIN entry system, they would need to do so on the chip reader device itself (non-iPhone).
buro9 on news.ycombinator.com
its irritating generic web 2.0 startup name will prevent me from ever taking it seriously.
bede on news.ycombinator.com
How long before we just get credit card chips embedded in our arm and wave at the register?
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