Danske Bank-owned MobilePay is making a major play for the Finnish market through a deal that will see its mobile payments service accepted at nearly a thousand S Group grocery stores.
The agreement between MobilePay, S Group and its S-Bank unit will bring instore and online mobile payments to Finns from this autumn.
Users will be able to connect their S-Etukortti card details to MobilePay to make payments, as well as collect bonus points, and receive electronic cash and warranty receipts.
Jari Annala, chairman, S-Bank, says: "Initially, MobilePay will change paying at S Group’s grocery shops in particular. Later on, we will offer the possibility to use it at other outlets such as ABC stations and restaurants as well."
MobilePay, which became an independent company last year but is still owned by Danske Bank, is hugely popular in its home market of Denmark, installed on 90% of consumer smartphones.
However, it has not found conquering other markets so easy. After a two year struggle, in October it gave up in Norway, throwing its weight behind the rival Vipps service.
In Finland it is setting up an independent subsidiary to act as a neutral partner for local banks and others in the hope of winning over more partners for the service.