iZettle Review

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Date Established

2010

Location

Stockholm, Sweden

Pros

• European merchant accounts available
• Integrates with 3rd-party POS systems
• In-app invoicing
• Basic employee management
• Predictable flat-rate pricing
• Stated processing limits

Cons

• Account stability issues
• Poor customer service
• Buggy app (especially for Android)

Overview

We’re making history with this iZettle review. This is our first review of a processing company based outside of the US that does not even serve US-based merchants. But we’d heard a lot of good buzz about iZettle. So here we are.

iZettle is sometimes called the Square of Europe. I don’t necessarily think that’s an accurate description (we’ll get into all the reasons why later on), but it’s easy to see why it’s a leading choice in Europe.

While iZettle currently serves Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, the UK, Germany, Spain, Mexico, Brazil, the Netherlands, and France, I will focus on the company’s UK services for this review. Specific rates and limits will differ from one country to another (so do your research), but the products, services, and features remain essentially the same.

Since my expertise revolves around the US market, I can only compare iZettle to what we have here. In my research, I have found that iZettle offers high-quality service, honest marketing, and a capable mobile app. It recently revised its pricing model, moving away from a sliding scale in favor of one flat rate: 1.75%, with an optional monthly fee for bonus services. I’m okay with this.

There are a couple of shortcomings with iZettle’s service. There’s no offline processing, no manual entry, and no gratuities. There are none of the bells and whistles that American consumers might expect. It is a basic app. But at the same time, it has everything you absolutely need to run a business and accept credit cards.

Given everything I’ve seen, I am confident in recommending that you give iZettle a shot in the UK and other supported countries. The company gets a favorable 4-star rating for now, but could easily earn 4.5 stars if it keeps up the good work! Check it out, and read the rest of the review for more information. And don’t forget to comment with your insights and experiences.

Products & Services

• Mobile POS app: While I wasn’t able to test the app hands-on because it is not available in the US, I can tell you that the general response from users has been positive based on Google Play and Apple Appstore reviews. Features include:
  • Inventory library: You can organize items into folders and include different variants (like small, medium, large) for each item, and upload photos of products to serve as icons. Bulk import and export via Excel to speed things up.
  • Cash drawer/receipt printer connectivity: This is always nice to see. Receipts can also be sent by email or SMS.
  • Cash/card acceptance: Of course you don’t have to pay for cash acceptance, but it’s nice to be able to track it in order to better use the reporting tools.
  • Discounts: Issue discounts by percentage/fixed amount.
  • In-app invoicing: Send an invoice for 2.5% of the transaction.
  • VAT: business accounts can set vat rates for items.
  • Analytics: iZettle’s analytics are pretty standard stuff, but it covers all important data — card and cash sales, plus the items and quantities of each sold, for starters.
  • Order tickets: Print up receipts as well as tickets for the kitchen. This feature is iOS only. If you need a more robust POS for your restaurant, iZettle has partnerships with other POS options (see below).
• Multiple staff accounts: Each staff member will have his or her own unique login information, and will not have access to reports or sensitive account info. This is a nice feature and one available at no extra charge.
• Support for EMV, magstripe, and contactless payments: As far as card payments go, iZettle has you covered for pretty much everything — including magstripe and NFC-based contactless transactions.
• Integration with Xero and Debitoor: Link iZettle with Xero or Debitoor for accounting purposes. Debitoor also supports invoicing.
• Customer database: When customers enter their email address for receipts, iZettle stores them. You can then import that list into an email service such as MailChimp.
• Integration with IntelligentPOS, Vend, Lightspeed, and iKentoo: Need more of a full-fledged solution for POS but still need a reliable but flexible payment processor? IntelligentPOS, Vend, Lightspeed Restaurant, Lightspeed Retail, and iKentoo all support payments through iZettle while giving you more advanced capabilities, especially for the hospitality industry.
• Integration with Ecwid: There’s no virtual terminal, no online store, nothing that suggests that iZettle might expand beyond mobile processing. Except, that is, for its sole eCommerce integration: Ecwid.
• iZettle Advance: Need a bit of extra cash to grow your business? iZettle Advance will provide you with the funds you need. The amount you’re eligible for depends on your processing history, and by default, you pay it back with a percentage of your daily sales (though you can make a lump sum payment as well).

The one thing to note here is that iZettle no longer supports manual entry of credit card information. You MUST have a card reader connected and swipe, dip, or tap the card in question to complete the transaction. (Or, tap your phone if you’re using Apple Pay. That works too.)

iZettle Card Readers

iZettle only offers 1 card reader for purchase at the moment. It’s called, unsurprisingly, the iZettle Reader, and it accepts magstripe and chip cards as well as contactless payments. The device pairs via Bluetooth and should last you all day — though you can also use the dock to keep the device charged and stationary on your countertop.

The iZettle Reader is fairly new, and so for existing merchants, it seems the company is continuing to support the Card Reader Lite, the Card Reader Pro, and the Card Reader Pro Contactless models. You can no longer get these devices from iZettle, however.

Fees & Rates

I’ll be honest: I liked iZettle’s old sliding-scale pricing structure, where your rate depended on how much you processed monthly. If this pricing model hit the US, I think iZettle would have done very, very well.

These days, iZettle charges a flat 1.75%, which is a very respectable flat rate. By default, you’re enrolled in the “Go” plan, which is the basic service. You have the option to upgrade to the “Go Plus” plan and pay an additional £20 per month. In the US, that would usually mean a lower rate. But that’s not the case with iZettle. Instead, you get extended customer service hours, additional reports, and a lifetime warranty on the card reader.

There’s one other fee, which I’ve already mentioned: invoicing. Invoices will run you a very reasonable 2.5% of the transaction amount. iZettle will handle sending notices to your client and marking when the invoice is paid.

iZettle is a third-party processor that works through Elavon and Bambora, both of which are fairly large processors, each handling more than 3 billion transactions annually. If you want to know more about each companies rates and interchange, you can actually find that information on the iZettle site, which is a very nice touch.

You will be responsible for purchasing your card reader, as well, as there is no free reader. The iZettle reader, currently the only device available in the accessory store, generally retails for £59 excluding VAT.

Deposit Schedule & Limits

When you process through iZettle you can expect payouts within 2-3 business days, which isn’t bad. However, your fund availability also depends on two factors, according to the iZettle site:

Deposit limits depend upon:
– If you’ve taken a payment from a chip-card or a magstripe card.
– If the payment was approved via the customer’s PIN-code, Touch ID or signature.

Transactions processed on a Monday will be available in your bank account on Wednesday or Thursday, while transactions processed on Friday will be available Tuesday or Wednesday.

Businesses can expect a maximum daily payout of £500,000 for chip cards, and £200,000 for signature and magstripe transactions. You can schedule your payouts to take place daily, or you can choose weekly or monthly payouts, depending on how you prefer to manage your cash flow.

Transaction Limits

Very few pay-as-you-go processors will let you ring up an unlimited number of transactions without stopping and analyzing the volume and ticket size. And iZettle is no exception. Your transaction limits will depend on how you process transactions, whether you have a business account or a private account, and which card reader you’re using (see the next section for more information on the card reader options). It’s a little convoluted, so bear with me.

Chip Card (including Contactless) & PIN or Touch ID
Private account
£1000 is the limit per 24 hours. It is also the limit per card and transaction.

Business account
£500,000 is the limit per 24 hours.
£5,000 is the transaction limit per card and transaction.

Chip Card & Signature 
Private account
£1000 is the limit per 24 hours. It is also the limit per card and transaction.

Business account 
£200,000 is the limit per 24 hours.
£2,500 is the transaction limit per card and transaction.

Magstripe Card & Signature 
Private account
£1000 is the limit per 24 hours. It is also the limit per card and transaction.

Business account 
£200,000 is the limit per 24 hours.
£2,500 is the transaction limit per card and transaction.

It’s also worth noting that private accounts are limited to a maximum of £4,000 per 12-month period.

That said, how do you know which account you should sign up for? This is what iZettle says about it:

If you’re a sole trader or have a business registered in the UK you should sign up for a business account. If not, a private account is right for you.

But be aware:

If your company has not filed accounts with Companies House in the past two years we might not be able to approve your application when you sign up for iZettle. However, if you are willing to be a Personal Guarantor, we may still be able to accommodate you.

All in all, this is pretty reasonable. I like that iZettle disclosing per-card and per-transaction limits because many third-party processors in the U.S. aren’t nearly as forthcoming.

If you’re processing transactions higher than the stated limit, you probably want to look elsewhere for a merchant service provider, but if you have low to mid-size tickets, you should be absolutely fine.

Contract Length & Early Termination Fee

As you might expect from a pay-as-you-go processor, there’s no early termination fee from iZettle and no monthly fees. Good deal!

Beyond that, iZettle’s contract terms are pretty standard fare for a mobile processor. There’s nothing worrisome in the agreement, nothing sneaky to be aware of. I like the transparency here — which brings me to the next point:

Sales & Advertising Transparency

iZettle does a fantastic job of clearly describing the capabilities of their system and making known all of the important contract stipulations (of which there are very few that would be deal breakers for anyone, I think). iZettle has worked out of a lot of kinks in its system, from the old method of processing Visa cards to the clunky old card reader. You know what your limits are, what your rates are. In short, there’s very little to object to, and no hidden surprises.

In addition to transparency, I think it’s important that mobile processing companies and other services that cater to small businesses understand how to reach their target demographic. That’s precisely why I always look at a company’s blogs and social media. These are educational tools for small business owners,

iZettle is doing pretty well on the blog front. It’s broken down its blog posts by industry (retail, food & drink, health & beauty), and topic (inspiration, marketing, human resources, etc.). I like this. It’s easily skimmable so you can find the topics that appeal to you the most. The quality of the blog posts is adequate — some of it feels a little bit superficial, but there are some good ideas. I think iZettle could do better, but I also know it could do much, much worse.

The company also has a Facebook page, a Twitter feed (@iZettle), and a LinkedIn profile. None of these profiles is particularly active, but they do post interesting content. There’s also a support-focused Twitter account (@iZettleSupport). What surprises me the most is the fact that the support Twitter feed isn’t nearly as active as I’ve seen with other mPOS providers. Usually, there are several tweets daily — and given that iZettle serves over a dozen countries, I’d expect a lot of activity. But there isn’t. I don’t know if this means that social support just isn’t a popular option, or if few people actually need assistance, or what, but it’s a curious phenomenon. I don’t see many inflammatory comments or complaints about having trouble with an account, which is good, but I also don’t see a lot of engagement.

Customer Service & Technical Support

iZettle offers support from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. GMT on weekdays. (If you’re on the Go Plus plan, you get phone support 8 a.m. till 8 p.m. on weekdays, and 9 a.m to 6 p.m. on weekends.) In addition to email, the company now offers phone support, which is always good to see. Generally, questions that can’t be answered with a self-service portal require a human touch and a timely response, which means phone support is simply the best option. You can reach iZettle at 0203 699 9934 during regular business hours.

The site has a solid knowledge base, though, which means that for most problems you can probably find the answer for yourself instead of wasting your time with customer support. I always like to see this option, since I know from experience that self-service support is often the most efficient solution for general questions. It’s not the most comprehensive guide I’ve seen, but at the same time, it’s far better than others out there. It addresses all the core issues you’d expect and then some.

Negative Reviews & Complaints

Since iZettle is not a US-based company, it is not under the purview of the Better Business Bureau. So for this section, we are relying on other review sites and complaints forums to see what chatter is like. iZettle doesn’t have a large number of complaints floating around, but you’ll find a few out there. These were the most common:

• Sudden account terminations/suspensions: This is to be expected. Almost all services that provide fast, easy access to payment processing have complaints of early account instability. This is because companies such as iZettle tend to approve accounts without substantive underwriting, leading them to abruptly cancel services if they later feel that an account is higher risk than they’d like. This may also cause iZettle to suspend your account pending further verification and investigation. I have not seen many complaints like this against iZettle, but some are definitely popping up. I recommend checking out section 2.2 of the iZettle terms for a list of prohibited business types, as falling into one of those banned categories will get you shut down pretty quickly.
• Poor customer service: In some cases, these complaints are related to the previous issue. Account terminations are awful to deal with all around, and it’s worse when customer support is unable to do anything to even tell you anything about the problem. Some people have complained about impersonal, uninformative email support alongside long wait times.
• Limited compatibility/glitches with Android devices: This is actually a fairly common complaint against ANY mPOS service that favors iOS over Android. The Android ecosystem is so fractured that it’s difficult to support every device, and glitches can happen. Related to this, some people have complained about their card readers failing after app updates.

Positive Reviews & Testimonials

You’ll find a nice collection of testimonial videos and remarks on the iZettle site under “Stories.” This is always good to see. You’ll also find a collection of videos featuring iZettle merchants on the company’s YouTube channel.

Aside from that, you’ll find a few other independent review sites (like ours!) and news outlets that have mostly favorable comments about the iZettle service. Most seem to enjoy the pricing model, which is a fairer system than most mobile processing services provide, and better than what many merchant account providers can offer as well. And of course, everyone likes that there are no early termination fees.

You’ll also see that iZettle has a 4.2-star rating on more than 23,000 reviews in the Google Play store. Most people praise the app’s ease of use and how quickly and reliably the card reader connects. In iTunes, the app has 4.5 stars on more than 3,000 ratings. So clearly the merchants like the app.

Final Verdict

On the whole, iZettle offers good quality mobile payment processing by any standard. The pricing is very fair, and the service is reliable, in so much as any pay-as-you-go processor is. It doesn’t have nearly the number of features Square, which makes calling it the European Square a bit of a stretch to me. Nevertheless, users seem to enjoy the simplicity and ease of use. And the app does support all the features you need to run your business (discounts, inventory, cash recording), even if it may not have everything you’d like (such as support for gratuities). I think it’s entirely possible that we’ll start to see some more features introduced in the future, now that many other snags have been worked out.

All things considered, I’m impressed by iZettle. The pricing model is one that I would love to see brought over to the U.S. The feature set might not be on par with Square, but it does line up pretty well with most other mPOS options. I’d love to see this option available stateside — and to our neighbors to the north.

I’m perfectly comfortable recommending that you check out the service, and am awarding iZettle keeps a solid 4 stars. If the company continues to improve, that rating will certainly improve!

Thanks for reading! Please comment with your thoughts.

• Bio
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Melissa Johnson

Melissa Johnson is an independent writer and editor who loves e-commerce, digital marketing, technology, and social media. Once upon a time, she earned a journalism degree, but she went on to discover that she could work from home, researching, editing, and writing about the things she found most interesting. When she's not tied to her laptop, Melissa can usually be found in the kitchen, reading a book, or doing something of the nerdy persuasion.

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