Amsterdam-based payment processor Adyen is the latest company to jump into the mobile POS market, announcing the availability in Europe of its Shuttle solution. But unlike other competitors whose solutions turn a smartphone into a mobile credit card terminal, Adyen's Shuttle mPOS reader is the first to offer acceptance of all credit and debit card types in use in Europe — both chip-and-PIN and mag stripe.

Adyen is no newcomer to the payment space. The company has been processing payments both on and offline for 15 years and already boasts 2,500 merchant clients. With Shuttle, the company hopes to integrate a mobile POS solution into its core services.

"Shuttle is a natural evolution of our online and mobile payment solution, bringing Internet technology to the point of sale and providing complete integration across all sales channels," said company CEO Pieter van der Does. "With more and more purchases being made online and using mobile devices, merchants are rethinking their approach to face-to-face commerce. Chip-and-PIN is how Europe pays, and with Shuttle, Adyen provides a cost-effective, high performance MPOS device that enables consumers to transact the way they are used to, using any card."

Through Shuttle, Adyen said its merchant customers can now directly connect online, offline and mobile payments into the company's platform, giving them one point of contact for all payment-related issues.

The Shuttle device itself is Bluetooth-enabled for connection to iOS and Android smartphones. Customers simply insert their card into the device and key in their PIN to make a transaction. Shuttle provides a receipt to the consumer and provides the merchant with a number of reporting and analysis tools through Adyen's back-office systems.

The cost to merchants to use Shuttle is a €99 ($129) upfront fee for the reader, along with a €10 ($13) ongoing monthly fee.

Another difference between Shuttle and other solutions is that Adyen said Shuttle has been designed not just for small merchants, but also for medium to enterprise-sized merchants, including international businesses transacting sales in multiple currencies. Adyen has also developed an API to integrate the reader into other applications as well as a white-label solution for partners looking to include it in their own products.

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