Stockholm-based Zettle released a new service on Thursday that makes it possible to receive contactless payments directly on the phone. The so-called Tap to Play solution is the first of its kind to reach the market.
Zettle, founded as Izettle in 2010 and now owned by Paypal, is primarily known for its wireless payment box which in combination with an app in the phone helps small businesses to receive card payments.
The new service, which works with Android, means that the payment box can be excluded. The transactions are carried out instead by holding a debit card or a phone with a digital wallet towards the back of the seller’s Android device.
– Entrepreneurship has flourished during the pandemic, and simplicity is the product’s great strength. Small business owners can quickly start selling, whether it is in a market, in a pop-up store or out on the street, says Stefan Knorn, product manager at Zettle.
The development of the service began three years ago, and since then the technology has been refined step by step.
Goes on the minute
– Today’s solution means that once you have downloaded the app and become a Zettle customer, which takes five minutes, you can get started within a minute and receive card payments.
The launch takes place initially in three countries – Sweden, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands – selected for their high proportion of contactless payments. The plan is to enter additional markets “soon”. The product manager does not want to be more specific than that.
– When the time is right, we tell more.
The Stockholm company Zettle, owned by American Paypal, will on Thursday release a new service that enables small businesses to receive card payments directly over the phone. Photo: Zettle / Paypal
In February, Apple announced plans to roll out a similar system for the iPhone, but with Thursday’s release, Zettle’s service will be the first of its kind.
When the company started work on the new service in 2019, they worked with a company that was later acquired by Apple, and has thus kept track of the competitor’s plans. However, Stefan Knorn does not want to attach much importance to being first past the finish line.
– The most important thing is to be on the market and offer these payment solutions when the market enables them.
Muscles for growth
Zettle was bought in 2018 by the American payment giant Paypal in a deal worth SEK 19 billion. The head office in Stockholm is approaching 600 employees, and with greater financial muscle, the company will grow further.
– We have a unique knowledge that the rest of the Paypal Group demands. The office in Stockholm will continue to develop and be at the forefront of physical payment solutions.
What is the next step?
– I believe that the blipping technology itself, and how to develop it in different forms, is where you will find the solutions of the future.
Facts: Zettle
The company was founded in Stockholm in 2010 as Izettle.
The name comes from the English expression “settling a debt”, loosely translated “pay a debt”.
Izettle was bought by Paypal 2018 for SEK 19 billion. The deal was reviewed by the British Competition Authority, but was approved in the summer of 2019.
Changed 2021 name to Zettle.
Zettle is currently present in 13 markets in Europe, North America and South America.
The company has about 600 employees, of which the lion’s part is in Sweden, and the head office is located in Stockholm.
In addition to the payment service, the company’s app offers a comprehensive solution for small businesses with functions for, among other things, inventory management, sales reports, connections to accounting systems and customer relations.
Paypal is an American e-commerce company founded in 1998 by, among others, Elon Musk. Paypal currently has 439 million connected consumers and merchants in over 200 markets.
PayPal’s sales, which include Zettle, amounted to just over $ 25 billion in 2021. Zettle’s sales are not reported separately.
Source: Zettle
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