The Next Web:

More specifically and as widely anticipated, iZettle has started inviting SMBs and individuals in the United Kingdom to join the beta testing program. The company will ship 3,000 free chip-card readers (which is an important distinction with Square, which offers a mag-stripe reader) to carefully selected people and businesses.

I am sure Square is working on it, but I wonder how far advanced it is to enter the European market. There is still a lot of room, but the number of competitors is increasing.

Most importantly, I wonder how they are going to adapt the Square reader to the European market. From what I know, chips are much more important in Europe than in the US. People don’t swipe their cards. They prefer to use the chip and their PIN code, because of security concerns. It would be a mistake for Square to neglect that, because iZettle is already shipping chip-card readers.