Banco Santander Partners with iZettle in Mexico, Oberthur in Chile (Sept. 3, 2013)
Less than three months after iZettle’s first venture outside of Europe, the Swedish mobile payments company again has partnered with Spain’s Banco Santander to launch its m-payments service, which enables customers to accept card payments with their smartphones or tablets and an iZettle card reader, in Brazil. iZettle expanded its mobile POS services to Mexico last June, shortly after the announcement of Banco Santander’s $6.6 million investment in the company.
“Brazil is the world’s second-largest card payment market, and the opportunity for iZettle to equip individuals and small businesses with card payment acceptance is immense,” said Magnus Nilsson, iZettle co-founder and chairman of iZettle do Brasil. “99.7 percent of companies in Brazil are SMEs and micro merchants, and we want to empower them with a cost-effective way to take payments other than cash.” iZettle’s chip-and-signature readers are free in Brazil until the end of this month.
In related news, Banco Santander Chile and Latin American mobile operator Movistar Chile yesterday announced they’ve chosen French payment card manufacturer Oberthur Technologies as their Trusted Service Manager (TSM). As part of an m-payment pilot program using near field communication (NFC), 5,000 compatible payment terminals are expected to be available throughout Chile by the end of the year.
