Mobile payment solution iZettle is being used by sellers of Sweden’s Situation Sthlm magazine to accept card payments. The magazine, which has a similar business model to The Big Issue in the UK, is sold by people who are homeless.
It follows a month-long trial with five sellers who were equipped with smartphones and an iZettle card reader. Each seller collected a phone when they picked up their magazines each day.
Jacob de Geer, CEO and cofounder of iZettle, said “Sweden is getting closer and closer to a cashless society as most people here prefer to pay by card. Cash is still important but if you don't accept cards you will miss out. We’re very happy to make it possible for organisations like Situation Sthlm to accept cards. People are happy to trust their cards with the vendors because they trust the card system. This is a milestone for us as it’s taking our vision to democratise payments to another level.”
iZettle, which is based in Sweden, was founded in 2010 and has been available in the UK since May 2012.