Norway's Vipps is claiming first place in the race to take on Apple Pay, enabling its users to tap their iPhones for instore payments.
Earlier this year, Apple agreed a deal with the European Commission to open up the NFC chip technology that enables iPhone users to make contactless payments to third-party providers. Facing similar regulatory pressure in the US, the tech giant then promised to give developers in host of other countries access to the technology.
Now, bank-backed mobile payments firm Vipps says it has becomes the first company in the world to offer a competing option to Apple Pay on iPhone.
Rune Garborg, CEO, Vipps MobilePay, says: "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 worked with debit network BankAxept and vendor Thales on the service, which is available to customers of SpareBank 1, DNB and over 40 local banks. More lenders are set to be added.
With ‘tap with Vipps’, Norwegians can now use one app to 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 Vipps users find it advantageous to only 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," says Garborg.