Credit card payment system Payleven has now launched in the UK, Netherlands, Poland and Brazil, after being trialed for six weeks in its home market, Germany.
The system uses an add-on card reader for smartphones coupled an app to enable users to credit merchants over the 3G mobile phone network in exchange for a percent commission plus a flat rate charged per transaction.
Payleven is set to compete with rivals’ Izettle and SumUp, which offer identical services, in the European markets.
The Samwer brothers specialise in rapid company building based on business models pioneered by successful startups. Last month Rocket Internet said it had received “tens of millions” of euros in investments for Payleven. News provider Deutsche Startups said venture capital firms New Enterprise Associates, publisher Holtzbrinck Ventures and Russian holding company Ru-net had participated.
Meanwhile rival Sumup has just completed its series A round last week raising $20m from retailer Tengelmann Group’s venture fund Tengelmann Ventures, Shortcut Ventures, b-to-v Partners, and Hommels Holdings, hot on the heels of Izettle which completed its series B round in June raising $31.4m from lead investors Greylock Partners and Northzone with backing from SEB Private Equity, Index Ventures, Creandum, and payment provider MasterCard. The round brings Izettle’s total funding up to $46.7m.