Vipps, originally developed by DNB Bank, and MobilePay have been competing for two years for market share in Norwegian mobile payments. But the tide has recently turned in Vipps' favour, following a February deal between DNB and 100 other local banks to acquire a 48% stake and spin off the service as an autonomous joint venture.

Having failed in its assault on the Norwegian market, MobilePay - which boasts more than 3.5 million users and is installed on 90% of consumer smartphones in Denmark - will now be switched off and Danske will instead enter talks with Vipps about a distribution deal.

Nordea, which had buddied up with Danske Bank in October last year to offer MobilePay to its customers in Denmark and Norway, is similarly hitching its wagon to Vipps.

Jesper Nielsen, member of the Executive Board in Danske Bank Group, and chairman of MobilePay, says: ”The past two years we have learned a lot and our presence in the Norwegian market have strongly contributed to the development of the Norwegian mobile payment market. As a challenger with heavy focus on product development, we take great pride in our contribution in ensuring user-friendly solutions for the market. Now we will start writing a new chapter in this story.

Our ambition is to settle on an agreement that enables us to offer our users and business customers great solutions in Norway. We will contribute with our many years of experience from the Nordic market. I believe this combination will benefit the bank’s customers who deserves that we at all times ensure the best possible solutions for them.”