Square has been making some serious waves on the other side of the pond over the last year as they have enabled small shops, boutiques, and market stalls accept payments via VISA and Mastercard. The problem for worldwide usage, however, has been that Square only read the magnetic strip on the card, and not the more secure chip that Europe and much of the world has moved to. Luckily we have a European startup that is offering just that in iZettle.
iZettle is a Swedish company and has been live in the Nordic nations – namely Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Finland for a while now with over 50,000 merchants on board – but they are now rolling out the service in the UK. CEO Jacob de Geer has noted previously that he appreciates the importance of the UK as a very different market and one they need to get right. As of today they are offering 3,000 card reader add-ons as part of their pilot scheme, with interested businesses able to apply for inclusion in the trial at iZettle’s UK website.
I was lamenting the lack of a Chip and PIN version of Square for the European market this time last year, so I for one could not be happier that iZettle seems to be going from strength to strength.