Elavon, a wholly owned subsidiary of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB) and a leading global payment solutions provider, has been selected by Swedish mobile payments innovator iZettle to provide the back-end card payment processing which aids its services to small businesses across countries including the UK and Spain.
Further expansion beyond Europe has been initiated with Mexico being the first such market. Elavon was chosen by iZettle for its pan-European reach, enabling its international expansion programme to advance with greater speed. The deal has already resulted in large numbers of individuals and small businesses being able to accept card payments using iZettle's solution with their smartphone, since November 2012.
Elavon is now seen as the acquirer of choice by iZettle when it is entering new markets. Elavon's longstanding distributing Bank business relationships in key markets was also a deciding factor as this fitted the iZettle model of acquirer linked to the distributing Bank. Elavon is the first acquirer which has completed the accreditation of iZettle's Chip & PIN card reader.
iZettle is as passionate as Elavon about promoting and enabling wider acceptance of card payment and the benefits of cash displacement for the smallest of businesses.
Magnus Nilsson, Founder & COO, iZettle says: "It is refreshing to find a company in this sector that is willing to completely adapt its processes to fit any business model. Flexibility is what is required when dealing with different markets and Elavon provides a service that can be tailored dependent on these individual needs. We look forward to a longstanding partnership together".
Hannah Fitzsimons, head of business development, Elavon says: "The small business community is exciting because it will bring new customers to card payments. We believe mobile commerce will account for a significant portion of all future retail spend and are looking forward to working with iZettle to provide a secure payment solution for transactions made using this pioneering service. " iZettle also just announced its partnership with Banco Santander, which has invested heavily in the company. Elavon also has a strong business relationship with Santander worldwide with joint ventures in both Mexico and mor more recently Spain. In the UK Santander recommends Elavon to its business banking customers.