Portugal Telecom in Powa payments deal Portugal Telecom has teamed up with a small British ecommerce company to create devices that enable businesses to take card payments by smartphone in what is believed to be a first in Europe. Powa, a competitor to Square, the US payment provider co-founded by Jack Dorsey of Twitter, said its service would allow millions of mobile tradesmen and stallholders to take card payments wherever they are. "This is a landmark deal," said Dan Wagner, chairman and founder of Powa. It is a real endorsement for us. Powa agreed a deal last year with First National Bank, the retail and corporate division of First Rand, one of South Africa's big four banks. The mPowa devices, which are small card readers that connect via Bluetooth to the smartphone, will be available in the second quarter of this year. Unlike Square, which concentrates on those new to card payments and relies on swipe technology, mPowa targets existing users via banks and telecoms companies and has the security clearance to handle chip and PIN, used extensively outside the US. While many niche payment systems exist, such as Near Field Communications, a wireless system, and Barclays Bank's Pingit, these handle small amounts while mPowa allows transaction up to the card debit or credit limit. mPowa takes a small licensing payment on top of the card fee, which it splits with its partner Portugal Telecom, the market leader domestically. The deal could be widened to include the telecom company's 90m customers in Brazil, Angola and other former Portuguese colonies. Portugal Telecom said mPowa was a "ready to deploy, robust, resilient and secure infrastructure to allow us to roll out mobile point of sale solutions to our customers."