Deutsche Telekom will sell iZettle’s card reader in its German stores, says the newcomer, which has also announced an alliance with DZ Bank as part of its strategy to enter the country’s payments market.

Payments through the reader, which enables small businesses to handle transactions on smartphones and tablets, will be processed by DZ Bank, the country’s largest co-operative bank.

During the launch, iZettle is to offer 25,000 card readers for the iPhone and iPad free of charge. Germany is the fifth country after Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Norway where iZettle has launched. It is running a pilot in the UK.

Other mobile operators, including T-Mobile USA, have sold such readers before although a more innovative approach was announced last week by Telefonica O2 in the UK, which is offering its own system rather than selling someone else’s product.

The mobile operator developed the system with Visa Europe and Global Payments, a payments processor.

Rather than a card reader, the O2 service offers a separate device through which a small business accepts payment and then links to an Android or BlackBerry handset via Bluetooth. An app on the smartphone or tablet manages the transaction. Customer receipts are sent via email or SMS. The Android and BlackBerry apps were launched last week. An iOS version is coming soon, says O2.

The new service accepts payments from Visa and MasterCard but no mention is made in the announcement of American Express, the third leading payments network.