The world’s first Apple Pay rival for iPhones has launched, but it may come with some drawbacks
- The world’s first Apple Pay alternative has launched in Norway
- It could encourage other services in Europe to follow suit
- There are both pros and cons to this step
Apple Pay lets you pay for almost anything wirelessly using just your iPhone, but it has been locked for years so that only Apple can add new features. That means Apple fans have been denied the choice of other providers that could bring new ideas to the table – but that’s just changed in a seismic way for European users.
Norwegian payments service Vipps has just launched its own Apple Pay rival – the first such service in the world – allowing customers to pay with their iPhone without ever having to go through Apple’s own service. That could open the door for many other Apple Pay rivals to enter the scene.
Vipps’ tap-to-pay program supports approximately 70% of Norwegian banking customers. So now you can change your default payment service to Vipps instead of Apple Pay if you are among the select group. It works on any payment terminal that works with BankAxept cards – Norway’s national payment system – which covers approximately 90% of payment terminals in the country.
According to a machine-translated version of Vipps’ blog post to mark the announcement, the company will “continually add more simplifications, support for international cards and more banks.” Support for Visa and MasterCard is reportedly coming in the coming months, and global payments should be available before summer 2025.
Currently, Vipps’ service is only available in Norway, but there are plans to expand it to Denmark, Finland and Sweden in 2025.
Advantages and disadvantages
Vipps’ Apple Pay rival offers the same features as Apple’s option, including authentication with Face ID, Touch ID, or your device’s passcode. Now that Apple has opened up access to its NFC system, other carriers could introduce missing features from Apple Pay, which could add a touch of competition to a solution that has been limited to Apple from the start.
That said, a move like this may not be entirely positive. It means a new system that suppliers will have to support, potentially fragmenting payment options for users. Additionally, you should trust that Vipps’ Apple Pay alternative is secure – while Apple is known for its device security, Vipps is a lesser-known name for people outside Norway to place their trust in.
And before you get too excited, these kinds of moves will likely be limited to Europe for now. It all happened because the European Union (EU) forced Apple to open up the NFC payment system that underpins Apple Pay to other companies, which paved the way for Vipps to launch its offering.
Still, it shows that alternatives to Apple Pay are possible, at least in Europe. It will be interesting to see if other companies join Vipps, what new features emerge as a result of increased competition, and if Apple is pushed to improve Apple Pay for its users.