iZettle Launches its Mobile Payments Solution in Mexico

June 18, 2013         By: Jason Mongiello

iZettle, a European mobile payments company, is taking its Android and iOS payments solution overseas in an attempt to integrate into the Mexican market.

This is the first time the Swedish company has stepped outside of the European market, all thanks to a global partnership and $6.6 million funding round from Banco Santander, the largest bank in Europe.

“This is a very important day for us,” said iZettle CEO and co-founder Jacob de Geer. “Shifting from local to global operations in financial services in less than three years of operation is a major accomplishment from our perspective.”

De Greer told TechCrunch why he decided to go with Mexico for his first global transition. One reason is that over 98 percent of Mexico’s market consists of small or medium sized businesses. Greer feels that iZettle could give small businesses ─ like jewelry boutiques or food vendors ─ a cheaper alternative for credit card processing.

“This is the start of big change for Mexico, where accepting card payments has never before been an affordable option for new or small business people,” said de Greer.

iZettle, much like Square, uses an accessory that allows merchants and other businesses to process credit cards using an app on a smartphone or tablet. In order to adapt to the Mexican payments, iZettle is introducing a brand new mini chip and mag-stripe reader.

iZettle will have a 4.75 percent transaction fee for every mag-stripe transaction and a 3.75 percent charge for Chip-verified purchases.

According to Techcrunch, de Greer is not interested in launching its services in America quite yet- Which is good since Square only charges a flat rate of 2.75 percent for each mag-stripe transaction.