Vipps MobilePay has launched a new service allowing 11.6 million users in Denmark, Finland, and Norway to send money to each other using just phone numbers, with Sweden to follow later this year.
Historically, transferring money between Nordic countries has been a complicated process, often involving lengthy procedures and high fees. This initiative aims to simplify cross-border transactions by eliminating the need for cumbersome IBAN numbers.
Following the 2022 merger of Norway-founded Vipps, and MobilePay, which originated in Denmark, Vipps Mobile Pay has been on a mission to ensure “very, very easy cross-border payments within the Nordic region”. It migrated to one tech platform at the end of last year.
“Our users have for a long time asked us to simplify sending money across the Nordics. Now, we have the solution ready,” says Rune Garborg, CEO of Vipps MobilePay. “That means goodbye to long IBAN numbers and tedious button-pushing. This is the first of many steps we are taking to bring the Nordics even closer together.”
The service
A transfer will cost four per cent of the transaction’s amount, while the user’s bank will have an exchange fee. It costs nothing to receive the money and it will still be free of charge to send money to your friends and family within each country and in the same currency.
While the service initially is about sending money between person to person, it will soon also be possible to pay to the 325 000 merchants and organisations that use Vipps MobilePay in the three countries. The service will roll out to Sweden in the Autumn.
“Our aim is to offer the simplest solution. Sending money will now be very, very easy whether you’re sharing a meal with Nordic friends or sending a money gift to your Nordic relative,” Garborg also added.
At the end of 2023, Vipps MobilePay boasted 12 million users with 1,24 billion transactions in Norway, Denmark and Finland. Last month, it indicated that following cross border payments, it will also launch tap to pay with Vipps and MobilePay this year.
