iZettle Review UK (Now Zettle By PayPal)

Pros

• No monthly fee
• Predictable flat-rate pricing
• Inexpensive hardware
• PCI-compliant solution
• Supports PayPal payments
• Good for low-volume merchants

Cons

• Account stability issues
• No offline mode
• No built-in eCommerce

What Is iZettle (now Zettle by PayPal)?

iZettle — recently rebranded as Zettle by PayPal— is a popular mobile processing system that has gained a considerable user base in Europe and the US. With no monthly minimum fees, no binding contracts or cancellation fees, and a growing number of feature options, iZettle has a lot to offer merchants on the go.

Though iZettle now serves a dozen countries, we’ll be focusing on the company’s UK services in this review. Specific iZettle pricing may differ slightly from iZettle fees in the UK, as may the availability of specific POS devices, but the services and features remain similar regardless of region. And while iZettle is now “PayPal Zettle,” for this review, we’ll keep using the old “iZettle” name that people are more familiar with.

Note: Our PayPal Zettle review (US version) details PayPal Zettle’s mobile POS services for US businesses.

iZettle Features

iZettle offers merchants a solid, modern mobile POS, a high-quality Bluetooth reader, a new all-in-one touchscreen terminal, and some nice extras, such as SMS payment links, in-person PayPal acceptance, and gift cards. You can also opt for add-ons, such as restaurant features, full POS integration, and business financing.

iZettle does have a few feature shortcomings — no built-in eCommerce, no offline mode — that hold down its score in this category a bit. However, on the whole, iZettle offers most of what mobile merchants will require. Plus, you can integrate your iZettle inventory with an existing online store.

iZettle App

iZettle’s mobile app, formerly known as Zettle Go but now called PayPal Zettle: Point Of Sale, offers some noteworthy features, including:

• Inventory Library: You can organize items into folders and include different variants (such as small, medium, and large) for each item and upload photos of products to serve as icons. Bulk import and export via Excel to speed things up.
• Discounts: You can issue discounts by a percentage or a fixed amount.
• Text Payments: This feature, useful for socially distant and remote payments that don’t necessarily involve your website — for example, taking an order over the phone — lets you text customers a link prompting them to pay on their device.
• In-Person PayPal Payments: Select “PayPal” as the payment method during checkout, and the app will display a QR code that your customer can scan to pay with the PayPal app on their phone.
• In-App Invoicing: Send an invoice for 2.5% of the transaction.
• VAT: Business accounts can set VAT rates for items.
• Analytics: iZettle’s analytics are pretty standard stuff, but it covers all the important data — card and cash sales, plus the items and quantities sold, for starters.
• Order Tickets: Print up receipts as well as tickets for the kitchen.
• Multiple Staff Accounts: Each staff member will have their own unique login information, and they do not have access to reports or sensitive account info. This is a nice feature and is available at no extra charge.
• Gratuity: iZettle now has a tipping function, so your customers can add an extra amount right at the reader. Tips are included in sales reports and receipts. If you’ve got an older iZettle card reader, make sure it’s updated with the latest software for the tipping screen.
• Customer Database: When customers enter their email addresses for receipts, iZettle stores them. You can then import that list into an email service, such as Mailchimp.
• Gift Cards: You can sell gift cards to your customers in two ways. You can order plastic gift cards or deliver gift codes through email with seamless gift card bookkeeping.

One absent feature is eCommerce. iZettle used to have an in-house eCommerce add-on but now recommends that customers who want eCommerce integrate with BigCommerce. Users of Shopify and other supported shopping cart software can also integrate iZettle into their existing store.

The app also lacks an offline mode; you’ll need a data or Wi-Fi connection to process payments.

iZettle Credit Card Reader

iZettle’s latest card reader is the iZettle Reader 2, which supports chip cards and contactless NFC payments. The £59 Bluetooth reader (£70.80 including VAT) works on all Apple devices running iOS 10 and higher and most Android devices running Android 5.0 and higher.

Here are the stats on the iZettle card reader:

• Low-energy Bluetooth connectivity supports an eight-hour battery life
• It takes card payments 25% faster than other mobile card readers (according to iZettle) and processes contactless payments in just five seconds
• PIN pad to accept PIN card and debit card transactions
• Accepts all major credit cards and digital wallets, including Apple Pay, Samsung, Google Pay, PayPal QR payments, and payment links, with five-second processing speeds
• Deposits withdrawals to your bank account in one to two business days
• 12-month warranty on all card readers
• Optional charging dock for countertop use
• Two color options (white and black)

Compared to similar mobile processing readers, the iZettle card reader offers great value, is competitively priced, and because of the updates, offers merchants better protection from fraud overall. About the only thing it lacks is magstripe capabilities, but this is becoming less of an issue with time as consumers and merchants leave magstripe technology behind.

Zettle Terminal

PayPal’s new standalone POS solution, the Zettle Terminal, is now available in the UK. This £149 touchscreen terminal (£178.80 including VAT) runs the Zettle Go app and does not need to be paired with any other device. It comes with a preloaded SIM card for immediate connectivity — the device runs on either Wi-Fi or 4G but requires a Wi-Fi connection during the initial setup.

Here are the Zettle Terminal’s specifications:

• Battery life with “average” use is about 12 hours, while battery life with “intensive” use is about four to six hours
• PIN pad functionality to accept PIN card and debit card transactions
• Accepts all major credit cards and digital wallets, including Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, Google Pay, PayPal QR payments, and payment links, with five-second processing speeds
• Deposits withdrawals to your bank account in one to two business days
• 12-month warranty on all card readers
• Optional Printer & Dock (£89) for countertop charging and receipt printing
• You can now get the Zettle Terminal with a barcode scanner, which costs £199

Other Zettle Services

• Restaurant POS: Zettle Food and Drink was a separate restaurant POS offering developed with the hospitality industry in mind. However, it is no longer available for purchase (though existing Food and Drink users can continue to use it). Instead, iZettle now highlights the foodservice-friendly features of the standard app on its website and suggests that users looking for further restaurant functionality integrate with a partner POS system.
• Software Integrations: iZettle integrates popular business software, such as QuickBooks, Xero, Shopify, BigCommerce, WooCommerce, Prestashop, and others. iZettle can also integrate with POS systems, allowing you to use iZettle processing with your preferred POS, such as Lightspeed, Revel, or Loyverse.

Ease Of Use

PayPal’s business products are designed with the non-techie small business owner in mind, and the PayPal Zettle mobile POS system is no exception. Both professional reviewers and PayPal Zettle users attest to the user-friendliness of both the card-reading devices and the POS software.

With a card reader and a mobile terminal designed for easy mobile use and an mPOS app that does what’s required of it, we’re giving iZettle perfect scores in this category. While there’s room for improvement in other areas, we see nothing that we need to ding PayPal Zettle for in the ease-of-use area.

iZettle Fees & Rates

PayPal Zettle earns decent marks for its pricing, though it could score higher if it offered financing options for its card readers, particularly the smart terminal.

The PayPal Zettle app carries no monthly fees. As for transaction fees, here’s what iZettle charges:

• Card-Present Transactions: 1.75%
• Invoiced Transactions: 2.5%
• Payment Link Transactions: 2.5%
• Keyed-In Transactions: 3.4% + 20p

The iZettle Reader retails for £59, excluding VAT, while the Zettle Terminal sells for £149 (excluding VAT). iZettle also sells POS hardware kits that include peripherals, such as iPad stands, card reader docks, cash drawers, receipt printers, and barcode scanners. These kits range from £189 to £599 (excluding VAT).

For the average user on the free plan taking in-person card payments, 1.75% is a terrific rate. If your business takes over £10,000 in card payments every month, you may qualify for custom iZettle pricing with an even lower rate.

Sales & Advertising Transparency

iZettle does a fantastic job of clearly describing its system’s capabilities and making known all of the important contract stipulations; very few would be deal-breakers for anyone. iZettle has worked out a lot of kinks in its system, from the old method of processing Visa cards to the clunky old card reader. You know what your limits are and what your rates are. There are no hidden surprises.

The company also sports a blog with helpful tips, a Facebook page, a Twitter feed, an Instagram profile, and a LinkedIn profile. There’s also a support-focused Twitter account.

Get Started with iZettle for the UK

Contract Length & Early Termination Fee

As you might expect from a pay-as-you-go processor, there’s no early termination fee from iZettle and no monthly fees. Good deal!

Beyond that, iZettle’s contract terms are pretty standard for a mobile processor. There’s nothing problematic or sneaky in the agreement. I like the transparency here.

Customer Service & Technical Support

iZettle offers free customer support (including phone and email support) for Zettle Go from 9 AM to 5 PM GMT on weekdays, while users on the paid Zettle Food and Drink plan (unavailable for new signups) can access support seven days a week. This is pretty good, but as we all know, payment issues occur on nights and weekends too. It would be nice if all Zettle merchants could access 24/7 support.

The site has a solid knowledgebase, though, which means that for most problems, you can probably find the answer for yourself instead of wasting your time with customer support. There’s also a chat widget, which may help you resolve simple issues faster. Put it all together, and iZettle earns good (if not spectacular) scores in this category.

iZettle Card Reader & App User Reviews

iZettle is well-received online. The main Zettle app has an average of 4.6/5 stars (out of 2.4K+ reviews) on the Apple App Store and a less-impressive 3.3/5 stars (out of 42.7K+ reviews) in the Google Play Store, which points to some issues the app has with certain Android devices. Overall, however, merchants seem to like the app. PayPal/iZettle is also responsive to complaints and makes an effort to resolve issues.

Final Verdict On Zettle by PayPal

Though my experience with UK mobile payment options is limited, I can say that Zettle by PayPal successfully meets the needs of a wide variety of merchants. Zettle offers high-quality service, honest marketing, and a capable mobile app.

There are a couple of shortcomings with iZettle’s service worth mentioning. Unlike Square, Zettle doesn’t allow offline processing or set you up with a free eCommerce website. However, Zettle’s payment flow works a little better for chip-and-pin payments than Square’s. With some other recent optional add-ons, the gap between Square and Zettle Go is narrowing.

Zettle gives you everything you absolutely need to run a business and accept credit cards. I’m perfectly comfortable recommending that you check out the service, and Zettle by PayPal earns a solid 4.1/5 stars.

Check out the best mobile POS systems for small businesses if you’re curious about your other mobile POS options.

POS Hardware & Mobile Credit Card Reader Rating Methodology

We spend hours researching and evaluating each POS hardware and mobile payments device that we review at Merchant Maverick, placing special emphasis on key characteristics to generate our product ratings.

When rating POS hardware (which might include registers, mobile card readers, and other similar devices), we use a 38-point rubric that looks at pricing, ease of use, features, customer service, and user reviews. We weigh each section differently to calculate the total star rating.

• Pricing: 40% of the total star rating
• Ease of Use: 20% of the total star rating
• Features: 25% of the total star rating
• Customer Service: 10% of the total star rating
• User Reviews: 5% of the total star rating

Each section is further broken down into granular, weighted subsections, in which we look at specific attributes, like whether reduced fees are available for multiple terminals, which payment processing options are available, and how well the hardware integrates with POS or payment processing software apps. We’re also paying careful attention to hardware’s relative cost, any associated fees, and whether financing is available, among other things.

Learn more about how we rate POS hardware.

The Merchant Maverick Seal of Approval 🏆

iZettle (Now Zettle by PayPal)	Visit Site

After hours of in-depth research and evaluation, we can confidently recommend this brand to our readers. Get started today and see iZettle (Now Zettle by PayPal) for yourself.

The Merchant Maverick Seal of Approval 🏆

iZettle (Now Zettle by PayPal)	Visit Site

After hours of in-depth research and evaluation, we can confidently recommend this brand to our readers. Get started today and see iZettle (Now Zettle by PayPal) for yourself.

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