The launch follows the successful completion of a thorough four-month test period. With SumUp, merchants use a free app and a free card reader to turn their mobile devices into tills capable of processing payments in a fast and secure manner. SumUp eschews the high monthly costs and complex paperwork associated with renting static terminals from banks, and only takes a 2.75% cut of every transaction made using its app and card reader.
In addition to launching in four major European economies, SumUp is also announcing the completion of an eight-digit Euro Series A funding round today. Investors include b-to-v Partners, Shortcut Ventures, Tengelmann Ventures and renowned technology investor Klaus Hommels.
The point-of-sale solution is expected to be especially popular in the UK, where there are estimated to be almost 1.5 million small businesses, smartphone penetration stands at approximately 51 per cent, and the number of credit and debit card transactions is growing by 38% year on year.
Daniel Klein, CEO of SumUp, commented: “A lot of small businesses are operating on very tight margins, and can’t afford to lose out on making a sale because they can’t process a card payment. However, they are all too often discouraged from partnering up with banks and renting conventional payment terminals because of the expense and difficulty inherent in doing so. Our mission is to reduce the expense, remove the difficulty, and make it possible for every merchant—no matter how small, unique, or mobile their business—to accept card payments. We’re taking the pain out of taking payments, and we’re helping small merchants to build stronger relationships with their customers.”
Merchants use SumUp by connecting the card reader the company supplies for free to the headphone jack of their iOS or Android-based device, opening the free SumUp app, and entering the amount to be transferred. The customer is then prompted to insert their card and authorise the transfer by signing with their finger on the touchscreen of the device. The app confirms the transaction on screen immediately and offers to send a receipt to the customer via email or SMS. SumUp‘s bank-grade security measures mean that every transaction processed by the app is fully encrypted; SumUp’s systems are PCI-DSS certified – the highest security standard for card payments.
Daniel Klein, CEO of SumUp, continued: “We have founded SumUp to provide a secure solution that solves a real problem for small merchants by harnessing the boom in smartphone technology. We have grown to a company of over 100 people, and will be using our subsequent investment by our experienced partners to take SumUp to further regions in the months ahead.”