payleven Signals International Expansion Ambitions with Apple, Wirecard Connections (June 4, 2013)
As competition heats up in the mobile merchant acceptance arena, payleven hopes to improve its odds of gaining international market share with a deal to sell its chip-and-PIN readers in Apple Inc. stores across Europe plus a new strategic alliance it’s formed with Germany-based Wirecard AG. payleven, which launched in Europe last year, targets small and midsize businesses with its mobile chip-and-PIN card reader. Through an agreement with Apple, payleven’s mobile card reader is rolling out to Apple stores in Europe and through Apple’s Website for customers in the U.K., Germany, Italy, Poland, the Netherlands and Brazil.
payleven also said it’s working with Munich-based Wirecard, which provides white-label electronic payment transaction services to corporations and merchants, to serve a broad range of corporate customers. Wirecard will act as the acquirer and handle fraud management in the companies’ joint offering, the companies said.
payleven began rolling out its mobile chip-and-PIN reader in Germany in 2012, and has continued expanding to markets across Europe in recent months. Following the success of Square in the U.S., mobile merchant acceptance has drawn a growing array of competitors in Europe, including PayPal and Sweden’s iZettle, among others.
