The social payments company iZettle has launched its services in Brazil as part of its global partnership with Banco Santander. Individuals and small businesses there who register with iZettle and order a chip-and-signature card reader can can now accept card payments with Apple and Android smartphones and tablets, the company said in a news release. The reader will sell for R$99 but is available for free until Sept. 30.

"The launch of a solution [that] offers secure and flexible mobile transactions with cards is something new in the country and will allow thousands of small entrepreneurs to have access to a service previously reserved to larger businesses," Cassius Schymura, payments services director at Banco Santander, said in the release.

IZettle co-founder and CEO Magnus Nillson said Brazil is the world's second largest card payment market. "Ninety-nine-point-seven percent of companies in Brazil are SMEs and micro merchants, and we want to empower them with a cost-effective way to take payments other than cash," he said in the release. "From sole traders in remote towns, to micro merchants in major cities, this is the start of a big change for Brazil, where accepting card payments for this group will be easier and more affordable."

IZettle charges no subscription fee, set-up fee, monthly fee or minimum, the company said. Instead, Brazilian merchants will pay 5.75 percent of each transaction. The free app can be downloaded from Apple's App Store or Google Play.

The service includes free business management software for tracking and analyzing sales, the company said, with graphs that can be sorted by year, month or week. The software's metric boxes display revenue, top-selling products, transactions, average payment volume and returning customers.

The solution also validates the card's chip, the company said, thus protecting both the merchant and the cardholders against the unauthorized usage of card data.

The Brazilian launch marks Sweden-based iZettle's second move beyond Europe, after its recent launch in Mexico. Former Volvo Latin America CEO Anders Norinder will lead iZettle's Brazilian operations as managing director, the company said.

Representatives from MasterCard and American Express also praised the announcement in the news release.

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