Norway’s Vipps first to launch Apple Pay alternative on iPhone

By Gloria Methri

Norwegian payment service Vipps has become the first company to launch a tap-to-pay solution for iPhone that competes with Apple Pay. The move follows Apple’s agreement with European regulators to open up its NFC technology to third parties.

Vipps users in Norway can now tap their phones with ‘Vipps to Pay’ in stores. With this launch, Vipps MobilePay becomes the first company in the world to offer a competing solution to Apple Pay on iPhone.

“We have fought for years to be able to compete on equal footing with Apple, and it feels almost surreal to be able to launch our very own solution finally. This will now be an exciting battle between the world’s biggest brand and Vipps,” said Rune Garborg, CEO of Vipps MobilePay.

The agreement between the EU and Apple, finalised in July, ensures that other mobile wallets gain access to the iPhone. This means consumers can choose which payment solution they want to use on the iPhone. The tap-to-pay feature will also be possible on Android phones.

With ‘tap with Vipps’, users can send money to friends, pay in stores, pay online, pay organisations and associations, settle payments, send money requests, join customer clubs, raise money for private purposes, and send money gifts.

“We believe that our users find it advantageous only to have to deal with one payment app and finally have the opportunity to use Vipps in situations where they would normally use their plastic card. After Apple opened up, it has been important for us to launch as quickly as possible, to meet tough competition. However, we will continuously add more simplifications, international cards, and more banks,” added Garborg.

SpareBank 1, DNB, and over 40 other local bank customers will be the first to tap into Vipps, and the company is working to include more banks.

Tap with Vipps will work on all card terminals that accept BankAxept cards, which corresponds to almost all card terminals in Norway. BankAxept is the national payment system in Norway. In a few months, and well before the summer vacation, the service will also be available for Visa and Mastercard cards, making it possible to tap to pay with Vipps worldwide.

The company plans to launch the ‘tap and go’ solution in Denmark, Finland and Sweden in 2025.