Charge prefix guide
What is a Zettle charge?
Zettle (formerly iZettle, owned by PayPal since 2018) supplies card readers and point-of-sale kit to small independent businesses across the UK and Europe — cafés, market stalls, pop-up shops, taxi drivers, salons, mobile tradespeople. A tap on a Zettle reader shows up with an iZ, ZETTLE or IZETTLE prefix (occasionally a PayPal-flavoured PP* prefix) followed by the trader's registered name, which is frequently different from the name on the stall or shopfront. Like other small-business readers, the charges are typically small, in-person and one-off, and can settle a day or two after the purchase — the recipe for a line you don't recognise.
Important: a processor prefix identifies who processed the payment — not necessarily who you bought from.
Real examples of how it appears
- iZ *[business name]
- ZETTLE *[business name]
- IZETTLE [business name]
- PP*POS [business name]
Formats vary by bank — reference fragments, cities and codes come and go, but the prefix shape stays recognisable.
Descriptor formats to look for
- ZETTLE / IZ* …
How to verify the charge
- Read the business name after the iZ */ZETTLE prefix and search it online, adding your town — sole traders often register under a personal or company name rather than their trading name.
- Think back over in-person purchases in the days before the charge: markets, fairs, cafés, taxis, salons — small odd amounts at independent businesses are Zettle's home turf.
- Check your email and texts for a digital receipt — Zettle merchants can send receipts at the till, and searching your inbox for 'Zettle' or 'iZettle' often finds one naming the shop.
- If you can't place it, ask your bank for the full merchant details behind the transaction — because Zettle is PayPal-owned, your bank's record often carries a fuller merchant name than the truncated statement line.
Is it fraud?
An iZ or Zettle line is nearly always a genuine purchase at a small independent business, obscured by the trader's registered name replacing their trading name and by a settlement delay of a day or two. Retrace in-person spending around that date before doing anything drastic. The worrying pattern is charges when the card never left your pocket near any small business, repeated charges from untraceable names, or amounts too large for casual purchases — portable card readers can be misused with stolen card details. If nothing matches, get the full merchant record from your bank, report the transaction as unauthorised so the card is blocked and the payment disputed, and let the bank's fraud process (and PayPal's merchant checks) chase the trader behind the reader.
Frequently asked questions
What is an iZ * charge on my bank statement?
A card payment to a small business using a Zettle (formerly iZettle) reader, PayPal's point-of-sale system for independents — market stalls, cafés, taxis, salons. The name after iZ * is the trader's registered name, which may not match the shopfront.
Zettle charged me but the business name means nothing — how do I trace it?
Search the descriptor name plus your town (sole traders often register under personal names), check your inbox for a digital receipt from Zettle, and retrace small in-person purchases a day or two before the charge — settlement lags the tap.
Is Zettle the same as PayPal — and is the charge safe?
Zettle is PayPal's card-reader business for small merchants, so the charge is processed by PayPal's infrastructure but paid to an independent trader. It's usually a real purchase; if you truly can't match it, ask your bank for full merchant details and dispute if unauthorised.
Common misunderstandings
- The city or state shown is often the company's registered address, not where you made the purchase.
- Charges can post days or weeks after the purchase.
- Small businesses may bill under a legal or holding-company name.
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