Vipps

 

Vipps is Norway’s dominant mobile payment platform, launched in 2015 by DNB, Norway’s largest bank, and now used by over 4 million Norwegians in a country of 5.5 million. That penetration rate is one of the highest of any national mobile wallet globally. In 2022, Vipps merged with Denmark’s MobilePay to form Vipps MobilePay, a combined entity owned by a consortium of Norwegian banks (72.2%) and Danske Bank (27.8%). While the brands operate separately in each market, the underlying infrastructure is shared and cross-border payment capability across Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden is now available, meaning Nordic users can pay Nordic merchants regardless of which app they use.

At checkout, the customer selects Vipps, enters their Norwegian mobile phone number, and receives a push notification in the Vipps app. For payments above NOK 2,000, BankID authentication is required. The customer confirms and the merchant receives real-time confirmation. All transactions are processed in Norwegian kroner (NOK). Settlement timing and any FX conversion to other currencies is handled at the PSP level for non-Norwegian merchants.

For any merchant targeting Norwegian consumers, Vipps is a non-negotiable addition to the checkout. Its adoption is so broad that its absence is immediately noticed by Norwegian shoppers, and it drives measurable conversion improvement, particularly on mobile. Norway has among the highest smartphone penetration and digital payment adoption rates in Europe, and Vipps reflects that.

On cost, Vipps fees vary by PSP. Quickpay, for example, charges 1.30 NOK per transaction with no subscription. Other providers charge a percentage-based fee. Compared to card processing costs in Norway, Vipps is generally cost-competitive, and the absence of chargebacks on authenticated Vipps transactions reduces the merchant’s overall payment risk exposure.

Vipps is exclusively available to Norwegian consumers with a Norwegian bank account and mobile number. For non-Norwegian customers on a Norwegian merchant site, alternative payment methods such as cards must be offered in parallel. This is an important checkout design consideration for Norwegian merchants with international customers.

PSP access is available through Adyen, Stripe, Checkout.com, Altapay, Quickpay, and most Scandinavian-focused providers. Non-Norwegian merchants can now access Vipps through several PSPs without requiring a Norwegian business registration, which historically was a barrier to entry.

Relevant markets: Norway, with cross-border capability across Denmark, Finland, and Sweden via Vipps MobilePay