Norway’s Vipps is positioning itself as a strong competitor to Apple Pay by enabling users to make in-store payments simply by tapping their iPhones.
Earlier this year, Apple reached an agreement with the European Commission to grant third-party providers access to the NFC chip technology that facilitates contactless payments on iPhones. Following similar regulatory pressures in the U.S., Apple also committed to providing developers in various other countries access to this technology.
Now, bank-backed mobile payments platform Vipps claims to be the first company globally to offer an alternative to Apple Pay for iPhone users.
Rune Garborg, CEO of Vipps MobilePay, stated, “We have fought for years to be able to compete on equal footing with Apple, and it feels almost surreal to finally be able to launch our very own solution. This will now be a very exciting battle between the world’s biggest brand and Vipps.”
Vipps collaborated with debit network BankAxept and vendor Thales to launch this service, which is currently available to customers of SpareBank 1, DNB, and over 40 local banks, with more institutions set to join.
With the ‘tap with Vipps’ feature, Norwegians can now use a single app to send money to friends, make in-store and online payments, settle bills, send money requests, join loyalty programs, raise funds for personal purposes, and send monetary gifts.
Garborg noted, “We believe that Vipps users find it advantageous to only have to deal with one payment app and now have the opportunity to use Vipps in situations where they would typically use their plastic card.”