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Sales units & account setup

Getting your first sales unit​

Your first sales unit is automatically created when you apply for Vipps MobilePay services and your merchant agreement is approved. You'll receive your sales unit name, merchant serial number (MSN), and test environment credentials by email.

See: Applying for services for the complete application process and requirements.

Setting up multiple sales units​

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

Regulatory requirements

Due to payment compliance regulations, you may be required to create separate sales units for different types of transactions. Vipps MobilePay must conduct KYC checks and assign appropriate Merchant Category Codes (MCC) for each sales unit. See: Regulatory requirements for purchases for details.

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​

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.

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.

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

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

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