Swipp, a mobile payments service owned by a consortium of Danish banks, has acquired Paii, a rival outfit formed by a group of telcos.
Developed by mobile operators TDC, Telenor, Telia and 3, Paii has established itself as the third most popular m-payments service in Denmark, behind Swipp and market leader Mobilepay.
However, the firm's chairman Flemming Jenson says that the owners have come to the conclusion that "payments are not telecommunications companies' core business in the same way as it is for the banks".
Meanwhile, Swipp - owned by Nordea, Association of Regional Banks, Local Banks and Nykredit - says that it will release a new app next year that will combine the best technology from both ventures for online, offline and P2P payments. There will be no job losses after the acquisition.
Martin Andersen, MD, Swipp, says: "By combining our knowledge, experience and skills from both banks and telecommunications companies, we get a unique position to expand mobile payments in Denmark. Traders have access to a larger customer base and the consumer gets far more opportunities to pay by phone.
"In addition, the combination with Paii makes it much faster to develop a customized and user-friendly mobile payment solution that can be integrated directly into the cash registers in retail chains."
The combined venture has now set its sights on overtaking Danske Bank's MobilePay within two years as Denmark's most used mobile app, according to local business paper Børsen Finans.