Dankort

 

Dankort is Denmark’s national debit card scheme, operated by Nets and issued in partnership with virtually every Danish bank. Around 80% of Denmark’s 5.5 million residents hold a Dankort card, making it the dominant domestic payment instrument in the country. Most cards are co-badged as Visa/Dankort, meaning they carry both the domestic Dankort functionality and international Visa acceptance on the same card.

For merchants targeting Danish consumers, Dankort is essential. Danish online shoppers pay with debit or credit cards in 85 to 90% of online transactions, and Dankort is the primary instrument behind that volume. Alongside MobilePay, it is one of two payment methods that define the Danish checkout experience and its absence is a meaningful conversion risk.

On cost, Dankort has a straightforward fee structure. Domestic Dankort transactions are priced as a fixed fee, typically in the range of €0.18 to €0.25 per transaction, which is significantly cheaper than percentage-based card scheme fees. This makes Dankort one of the more cost-efficient acceptance methods available to merchants with Danish volume. Where a Visa/Dankort co-badged card is routed over the Visa network instead of the domestic Dankort rail, standard Visa interchange and scheme fees apply, which are considerably higher. Confirming that your PSP routes Dankort transactions over the domestic scheme where possible is therefore a straightforward cost optimisation worth checking.

There is one important onboarding consideration for non-Danish merchants: accepting Dankort online traditionally required a Danish CVR business registration number and a separate contract with a Dankort acquirer. Several global PSPs including Adyen, Stripe, and Checkout.com now offer Dankort access without local incorporation requirements, making it more accessible for European merchants selling cross-border into Denmark.

Relevant markets: Denmark