iZettle Out Of Beta, Starting Its Commercial Launch In Sweden Today

    iZettle, the smartphone chip credit card reader and payment processer, is now out of beta and is offering its services to Swedish businesses and individuals that would like to accept credit card payments on the go. The device, which plugs into the data port of your iPhone, is given to users for no upfront costs. Somewhat unsurprisingly, the demand for iZettle’s card readers has exceeded their expectations but the company now guarantees that all registered users will have their card reader before Christmas. Only last month the startup received €8.2 million in venture funding.

    While there are no upfront costs for using the service, they do take 2.75% of a sale, plus a €0.16 transaction fee. In comparison, Square, the similar U.S. service that plugs into an iPhone’s audio jack, charges only 2.75% of a sale. iZettle is Europay, MasterCard and VISA approved, and compliant with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS). No sensitive data is ever stored on the mobile device or iZettle reader, and all data traffic is encrypted.

    Credit card companies are happy to be behind the project for the ability to target more Point Of Sale users. “iZettle has opened a new and massively untapped market for card payments,” said Mats Taraldsson, Head of Market Development for MasterCard Nordic & Baltic region in a press release. “We like to call it the 20 million merchant opportunity,” he added, referring to recent research indicating approximately 20 million European companies only accept cash, checks or invoices.

    With unprecedented connectivity and computing power in everyone’s pockets these days, it’s crazy to think how big of a role mobile payments will have in our daily life even five years down the road. With so much potential in mobile payments, we’re excited to see a european power player develop out of the Nordic countries. Here’s to hoping that iZettle expands to other countries soon!

    Here’s the video that came with their new announcement: