Norway's Vipps and Finland's ePassi have adopted Alipay's QR Code standard to enable interoperability for the four million users of their mobile wallets.
Under the agreement, consumers will be able to use their home app to scan the QR code of the partner scheme from 2019. Merchant partners will also benefit when they are able to accept QR Code payments from their domestic customers and also use the same unmodified system to welcome the payments of visitors from other Nordic countries as well as Chinese tourists.
Vipps is the most popular payment app in Norway used by over 76% of locals, while ePassi has the widest QR code compatible mobile payment network in Nordics with over 25,000 merchants accepting its payments already.
EPassi has offered Alipay since 2016 as the first Nordic acquirer and also offers QR Code payments in other European countries including Sweden, Iceland, Estonia and Spain.
As part of the announcement Vipps has also marked its roll out of Alipay in Norway, beginning in Bergen and then extending this to more key locations across the country.
Roland Palmer, head of Emea at Alipay, says: “Bringing Alipay to Norway enables businesses to better engage with our users as they travel and explore both this country and the wider region. We are also very excited to see such prominent cashless payment leaders in the Nordics come together to empower businesses at home and abroad to connect with a wider customer group.”