Italian vendor Jusp is set to launch its mobile point-of-sale (MPoS) device in its home market but CEO Stefano Calderano (pictured) told Mobile World Live that he has plans for wider distribution through partnerships, including with mobile operators and banks.

The Jusp dongle and app will become available in Italy over the next few days. Initially for iOS devices, Android and Windows Phone versions will follow soon.

The next markets could be in Europe, Latin America or in Asia (the company has an office in Singapore), depending on where it first strikes a distribution deal.

“The interest in MPoS comes from most countries in the world not just developed ones,” said Calderano. “It’s even more in emerging markets”.

Possible distribution partners include operators and banks, he said.

Jusp’s product enables small businesses to process payments by inserting a dongle into a smartphone or tablet. It claims to have the first all-in-one dongle capable of handling payments from chip-and-PIN cards (by all-in-one it means the dongle connects to the phone or tablet via its audio jack).

Earlier this year, the vendor raised $6 million for launching its dongle, thought to be one of the largest ever first-round fundraisings in Italy.

A number of rival MPoS vendors have already targeted Latin America. Partly this is recognition of the opportunity it represents. Also, it is a search for virgin territory. European markets are getting pretty crowded because of low entry barriers for MPoS devices.

Paradoxically, Calderano sees an opportunity in the most crowded MPoS market of all: the US.

The vendor claims it can jump ahead of rivals because its dongle will appeal more than rivals such as Square when the US moves over to chip-and-PIN, also called EMV, transactions in 2015.

“Square is a great company, a benchmark. Unfortunately, it does not have an EMV solution. A market opportunity will occur with the changeover,” he said.