Norway gets world's first Apple Pay alternative for iPhone

A Norwegian firm has become the first to take advantage of the EU law that required Apple to allow Apple Pay rivals to use its iPhone NFC technology.

As per the requirements of the EU's Digital Markets Act, Apple has been adding APIs to allow rivals to use its iPhone NFC in their digital wallet and banking apps. Now users of Vipps MobilePay in Norway can simply elect to use that service instead of Apple Pay.

"We have fought for years to be able to compete on equal footing with Apple," said Rune Garborg, CEO of Vipps MobilePay, in a blog post, "and it feels almost surreal to finally be able to launch our very own solution."

"This will now be a very exciting battle between the world's biggest brand and Vipps," continued Garborg. "Being the first in the world to offer an alternative to Apple Pay on iPhone is a huge achievement for us."

That battle will be to persuade users to switch from the default Apple Pay to Vipps. Garborg says that users will switch because of the benefits of being able to use Tap with Vipps whether they are customers of Norway's SpareBank 1, DNB, or over 40 other local banks.

"We believe that Vipps users find it advantageous to only have to deal with one payment app," said Garborg, "and finally have the opportunity to use Vipps in situations where they would normally use their plastic card."

The new Tap with Vipps service will reportedly work on all card payment terminals that accept BankAxept, Norway's national payment system. Vipps says it will be adding MasterCard and Visa support before the summer.

While Vipps is the first Apple Pay alternative to go live, there are other firms across the EU who are working to launch their own rival systems. Following the EU's demand that the NFC technology be opened to rivals across Europe, Apple has begun to bring the same option to developers in other regions, including the US.