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!