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Important information for merchants

Account setup and sales units​

Setting up multiple sales units​

Merchants with multiple stores or different payment scenarios typically need multiple sales units. See: Payment scenarios

Bank account requirements: The bank account number for a sales unit must belong to the organization number of the merchant that has the customer relationship with Vipps MobilePay.

A legal entity (the "merchant") may have one or more sales units. Merchants can have multiple sales units with a separate bank account number for each one, as long as the bank accounts belong to the organization number that the sales unit belongs to.

Alternative approaches for organizations with the same organization number:

If the organization has the required financial regulatory approval to "split" payments between sales units, it is possible to have only one sales unit and identify the payments of a store using the orderId - for instance by prefixing the orderId with the store's ID, name or number.

If each store has its own organization number, each store should be set up with their own merchant and sales units.

For all sales units with the same organization number, choose one of these approaches:

  1. (Recommended) Multiple sales units: One sales unit per store. Each sales unit will have its own MSN (Merchant Serial Number), and the orderId may be whatever you want. Each sales unit gets its own settlement files. You will need separate API keys for each sales unit (store). If you have a Vipps MobilePay platform partner, the partner will use the Partner keys for all the sales units. See: Payment scenarios.

  2. Single sales unit: Use only one sales unit (one MSN) for all stores, and use the order identifier (e.g., orderId or reference) to identify which orders belong to which sales units. All sales units are in the same settlement report. You decide what the order identifier contains, and it may be up to 50 characters. See: Recommendations for order identifier. You will use the same API keys for all stores. If you have a Vipps MobilePay platform partner, the partner will use the Partner keys for all the sales units.

tip

If you have multiple sales units, prefix the reference with the MSN for each sales unit. For example, if the MSN/sales unit ID is 654321, the reference could be 654321-acme-shop-123-order123abc.

Organization numbers cannot be changed.

When businesses merge with other businesses or are acquired, they sometimes request to "change organization numbers". However, the organization number is a unique identifier for a legal entity, and a new legal entity requires a new organization number, regardless of whether the business has the same name, is owned by the same people, etc.

Vipps MobilePay is legally required by the financial authorities to perform several checks of all businesses that have a customer relationship with Vipps MobilePay. This is based on each business' organization number, and the legally binding agreement between the businesses and Vipps MobilePay.

If your business has a new organization number, it is considered a new legal entity. The new business needs a new agreement with Vipps MobilePay. Establishing a new customer relationship for the new business is done on the portal at portal.vippsmobilepay.com.

Cross-border and Nordic expansion​

Implementation compatibility across countries​

Current implementations for Norwegian users work in other countries across the Nordics. See: Offering Vipps/MobilePay in the Nordics.

Signing agreements for other countries​

If you don't have the eID for another country where you want to offer services, you can log in to the business portal with your own eID and then search for the other company in the merchant agreement flow. If this is not possible, contact business support.

Managing your merchant profile​

As a Vipps MobilePay merchant, you can manage your profile in the business portal, portal.vippsmobilepay.com. Be aware that adding services, such as recurring payments, may require extra verifications due to additional risk evaluations that are required. For help logging in, see the portal section.

Integration and compliance​

Using Vipps MobilePay with Klarna Checkout​

Klarna's Kustom Checkout supports Vipps MobilePay as an external payment method if you have an agreement with Klarna for this.

note

You can also use Express Checkout on product pages and in the shopping basket for fast and easy checkout, allowing users to choose between Vipps and Klarna before they get to Klarna Checkout. With Login (the Login API), users can register and log in without usernames and passwords. Checkout may also be interesting.

info

Using Vipps Vipps or MobilePay MobilePay as an external payment method requires a direct integration with the Vipps MobilePay APIs, as Klarna redirects the user to Vipps or MobilePay for payment, as the example below shows.

All information about price, shipping, etc. must be completed in Klarna Checkout before the user is sent to Vipps or MobilePay to pay the total amount.

Example configuration:

"external_payment_methods": [
   {
      "name": "Vipps",
      "redirect_url": "https://example.com/vipps/ecom-api/initiate/acme-shop-123-order123abc",
      "image_url": "https://example.com/images/vipps-logo.png",
      "fee": 0,
      "description": "Pay safely and easily. No fees, no matter the amount. "
   }
]
FieldDescription
nameThe name of the payment method. Use "Vipps" or "MobilePay".
redirect_urlMerchant hosted URL generating a payment request.
image_urlThe logo to be shown for this payment method. See: Online branding guidelines.
feeShould not be applicable because of PSD2 surcharge ban.
descriptionThe description field should match the language shown in the Brand guidelines: text to display in the payment option

Contact your Klarna representative to get the external payment method activated for your account.

info

When using Vipps MobilePay as an external payment method in Klarna Checkout, settlements from Vipps MobilePay will be separate from settlements from Klarna.

PSD2 and SCA requirements​

Vipps MobilePay handles all PSD2's SCA (Strong customer authentication) requirements for you, including both BankID and 3-D Secure.

SCA is a security requirement related to PSD2, to reduce the risk of fraud and protect customer data.

Vipps MobilePay uses delegated SCA, which makes it easier for users to pay with Vipps MobilePay than with stand-alone card payments. The result is a higher completion rate.

Delegated SCA is the primary way of solving the SCA requirements. The solution is SCA compliant and consists of two-factor authentication featuring either PIN or biometrics in addition to device possession. Dynamic Linking has also been implemented according to the requirements.

Measuring sales with analytics tools​

Vipps MobilePay doesn't provide built-in functionality for measuring sales with Google Analytics, Facebook pixel, or similar services. Merchants can use any analytics service on their own website and use the fallback URL (the "result page") to track activity. This tracking implementation must be done by the merchant.

Business models and use cases​

Creating a marketplace with multiple merchants​

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

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:

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 capabilities and limitations​

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: User information API

User information and privacy​

For detailed information about who can use Vipps MobilePay, see Who can use Vipps MobilePay.

User lookup and privacy protection​

Vipps MobilePay does not offer a lookup service to check if a phone number belongs to a user, as this would leak information about users. If a payment is initiated for a user that cannot pay businesses, the API will return an error.

For privacy reasons, when a payment request fails due to phone number issues, Vipps MobilePay does not disclose which of these scenarios applies:

  • Not a Vipps MobilePay user
  • A Vipps MobilePay user, but too young to pay businesses
  • A previous Vipps MobilePay user that has deleted their account
  • A Vipps MobilePay user that has their account temporarily or permanently blocked

More details about the reason for the failure cannot be provided.

Note on account verification: While there is no separate lookup API, attempting to initiate a payment with a phone number that is not registered with Vipps or MobilePay will fail.

Users that install the app accept the terms and conditions, including being "looked up" by the merchant if the payment is initiated with the phone number specified. Users can pay with Vipps without sharing their phone number with the merchant.

See terms and conditions.

Users with unlisted numbers, secret numbers, etc. can still pay with Vipps, since their phone number is not shared with anyone without their explicit consent.

Merchants can request user information, but only as part of a payment or login flow.

Vipps MobilePay offers merchants the possibility to ask users for information as part of the payment flow or login flow.

note

Vipps or MobilePay users have not consented to providing any information to third parties, and Vipps MobilePay does not allow this. Users must always give consent to sharing data with a merchant. There is no other API to look up a user's address, retrieve a user's purchases, etc.

User anonymity in transactions​

Vipps MobilePay is anonymous for users by default. Users can pay through Vipps MobilePay without sharing their personal data with the merchant.

Getting user consent for personal data: Merchants can use the built-in functionality to get the user's consent to share personal data, such as phone number, name, email address and address. See Userinfo and Express Checkout.

Transaction overview display: The transaction overview on portal.vippsmobilepay.com shows customer names for some Vippsnummer and MobilePay-nummer payments.

For online payments, the payment's ID is shown instead of the customer name.

The reference (or orderId in the older eCom API) is specified by the merchant. See the recommendations for reference and orderId.

Use Userinfo to get the customer's consent to share name, email address, etc. The user can then consent to sharing as part of the payment flow.

note

For payments where the customer is not physically present, you are required by law to use one of the online payment methods. You need Payment Integration.

Vipps MobilePay users must always give consent to sharing data with a merchant. There is no other API to look up a user's address, retrieve a user's purchases, etc.

See: Report API: How can I extend my reported data.

Vippsnummer and MobilePay-nummer limitations​

Vippsnummer and MobilePay-nummer cannot be used for online payments. The tax authorities consider these to be cash transactions, not online/remote sales. The regulations associated with both types of payments are significantly different.

For webshops: You will need to order a Payment Integration product.

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