Business models & use cases

Creating a marketplace with multiple merchants

This may be allowed in some cases, with important considerations:

• All payments with Vipps MobilePay must be to a merchant that is a customer of Vipps MobilePay. See Applying for services.
• Revenue sharing between the marketplace and the merchants: See Payment splitting and fees.
• Refunds can only be made from the merchant that received the payment. See Merchant-to-user payments.

Two implementation approaches:

1. Single merchant model: The marketplace is the only Vipps MobilePay merchant, and all payments from Vipps MobilePay users are to this merchant. Vipps MobilePay is not involved in the cooperation between the marketplace and its merchants. The marketplace must operate according to regional laws and regulations.

2. Multiple merchant model: Each merchant in the marketplace is a separate Vipps MobilePay merchant, and each payment from a Vipps MobilePay user is made directly to the individual merchant. Note that a common shopping cart for all merchants cannot be paid in one operation, since all payments with Vipps MobilePay must be to a merchant that is a customer of Vipps MobilePay.

Selling products on social media

Merchants can sell products on social media, but a website is also required. Vipps MobilePay is required to check that your website meets the requirements set by regional laws and regulations.

See:

• Can I initiate a payment with a QR code?
• Can I send a payment link in an SMS, QR or email?

Services for matching buyers and sellers

Companies that receive payments through Vipps MobilePay must be Vipps MobilePay customers, as defined by regional laws and regulations.

Regulatory requirements: If your service receives payment from a buyer and then pays the seller, so that the service "holds" the money even for a short time, the service will need regulatory approval.

For subscription or access-based services: If your service sells access through a subscription or per-use model, it is most likely a regular ePayment customer and can use the ePayment API or one of our plugins.

Crowdfunding limitations

Vipps MobilePay is generally not suitable for crowdfunding.

Key constraints:

• Vipps MobilePay cannot hold money for merchants
• All Vipps MobilePay payments must be made to a business that is a customer of Vipps MobilePay

See: help.vippsmobilepay.com

Payment splitting and fees

Vipps MobilePay does not support splitting payments to charge a fee.

If you want to charge a fee (e.g., 3%) on payments, you have two options:

1. Receive the full payment, take your fee, and then pay the remaining amount to your customer (merchant). In order to receive payments in this way, you may need regulatory approval as an e-money institution from the financial authorities.

2. Have your customer (merchant) receive the full payment directly, then send an invoice for your fee.

Important: Companies that receive payments through Vipps MobilePay must be Vipps MobilePay customers.

Merchant-to-user payments

Merchants can refund users for payments they have made, but cannot generally pay users directly. There is a special case for Mobile Online, but this requires approval from Vipps MobilePay.

Important limitations:

• Payments from one merchant to another merchant are not possible
• Payments from a merchant to a person (non-customer) are not possible

Alternative for payment to users: Vipps MobilePay provides functionality for retrieving the user's bank accounts enrolled in Vipps MobilePay, with the user's consent. Payments can then be made to the bank account. See: Userinfo API