The European Commission has approved the merger of the payment services Vipps and MobilePay, the companies announce the deal had been “approved by all relevant authorities, including the EU Commission”.
Vipps and MobilePay merger gets EU clearance
The Norwegian banks behind the Vipps system will own 72.2% of the new company and Danske Bank will hold the other 27.8%.
The parties expect “to complete the transaction during the fourth quarter of 2022.”
The merger was “announced in a company announcement issued by Danske Bank on 30 June 2021, and on 16 September 2022, it was announced that OP Financial Group would not be a co-owner of the merged company and that OP Financial Group’s mobile payment provider Pivo would not be part of the merger.”
As previously communicated, the transaction will “result in a one-off gain of around DKK 400 million for Danske Bank.”
This past month, the Finnish mobile payments app provider Pivo had been removed from the three-way merger after the EC raised concerns about competition.
But now, the EC has given the green light for Danske Bank-owned MobilePay and Vipps, which is backed by a consortium of Norwegian lenders, to merge their business operations.
The combined entity, which is expected to launch on November 1, 2022, will have around 11 million clients and 400,000 shops and digital commerce sites across Finland, Denmark and Norway.
The business entity is now working on a common tech platform, with the initial step to collect both wallets on Vipps’ digital platform, with local adaptations and local brands.
“We are going to break down the digital barriers between countries here in the north. As we now get to join forces, the goal is to simplify payment and trading throughout the Nordics,” says Vipps CEO Rune Garborg.
“We will do this by offering simple payment solutions on one, secure digital platform. Our ambition is to solve everyday problems everywhere, and this merger gives us endless possibilities for simplification.”
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