Sellers of the Big Issue, a magazine sold by the homeless across the UK, will return the streets next week equipped with personal protective equipment and the ability to accept contactless card payments with technology from iZettle.
Around 2000 vendors will sell the magazine across England, Scotland and Wales at the start of next month, following a 15-week lockdown as the pandemic raged across the UK.
With the Big Issue's backing, iZettle is making card readers available to vendors across the country for the reduced price of £9 and offering a a per-transaction fee "significantly lower" than its standard rate of 1.75%.
Big Issue founder John Bird says: “Since the end of March, we’ve been going all-out to completely change, and save, the Big Issue during the Covid-19 crisis. We are pleased to be working towards being back out selling on Monday, July 6, with a firm plan in place that gives peace of mind to readers and vendors alike."