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Payments/DK

Denmark

ISO DK · 3 schemes

Summary

  • MobilePay (now Vipps MobilePay) dominates mobile payments (~4.5 million Danish users)
  • Straksclearing was Denmark's instant payment system, migrated to TIPS in April 2025
  • Dankort is the national debit card (90% of Danes have one, 40% of payments)
  • Denmark became first non-euro currency on all TARGET Services (April 2025)
  • QR code payments widely supported via MobilePay at 200,000+ merchants

Banking landscape

Central Bank

  • Name: Danmarks Nationalbank
  • Website: https://www.nationalbanken.dk/
  • Role: Operates Kronos2 (now migrated to TARGET), payment system oversight

Major Banks (2024)

Rank Bank Name Total Assets (DKK) Market Share Type
1 Danske Bank 2,209,850 M 26.19% Domestic
2 Nykredit Realkredit 1,686,040 M 19.98% Mortgage
3 Totalkredit 1,000,100 M 11.85% Mortgage
4 Jyske Bank ~780,000 M ~9% Domestic
5 Nordea Danmark ~600,000 M ~7% Finnish subsidiary

Market Structure

  • Total Banks: 88 operating in Denmark
  • Big Four: Danske Bank, Nykredit, Nordea, Jyske Bank
  • Concentration: Top 4 hold ~66% of total banking assets
  • Banking Assets: ~300% of GDP

Large Corporate Banking (2024)

  • Nordea: 84% market penetration
  • Danske Bank: 84% market penetration
  • SEB: 56% market penetration

Mortgage Market

  • Nykredit: 37.00% share (largest)
  • Totalkredit: 21.95% share
  • Jyske Realkredit: Significant share

Payment infrastructure

National Payment Systems

System Operator Type Status
Kronos2 → TARGET Nationalbanken RTGS Migrated April 2025
Straksclearing → TIPS Finance Denmark/Nets Instant Migrated April 2025
Sumclearing Nets Batch clearing Active
Intradagclearing Nets Intraday clearing Active
Dankort Nets Card network Active
MobilePay Vipps MobilePay Mobile payments Active

Historic: Straksclearing (Express Clearing)

  • Launch: November 21, 2014
  • Owner: Finance Denmark
  • Operator: Nets
  • Limit: DKK 500,000 per transaction
  • Availability: 24/7/365
  • 2024 Volume: 25% of GDP daily value
  • Status: Migrated to TIPS April 2025

April 2025 Migration to TARGET Services

  • Milestone: Denmark first non-euro currency on all TARGET Services
  • Wholesale: Kronos2 → T2
  • Instant: Straksclearing → TIPS
  • Benefits:
    • More robust and future-proof platform
    • Unified cyber threat protection with Eurosystem
    • Potential for easier cross-currency instant payments

Daily Payment Volume (2024)

  • Kronos2: DKK 101 billion interbank payments
  • Total Infrastructure: DKK 732 billion daily average

QR code standards

MobilePay QR (Primary Standard)

Attribute Value
Standard Name Vipps MobilePay QR
Type Mobile payment QR
Operator Vipps MobilePay (merged 2022)
Danish Users 4.5 million
Total Nordic Users 11.5 million
Merchants 200,000+ in Denmark

March 2024 Migration

  • 4.5 million Danish users migrated to unified Vipps MobilePay app
  • New platform unites Norway, Denmark, Finland (Sweden joined 2024)

QR Payment Methods

1. Customer Shows QR:

  • Every user has personal QR code in app
  • Merchant scans customer QR to identify
  • Sends payment request to customer's app
  • No phone number exchange needed

2. Customer Scans Merchant QR:

  • In-person: Scan QR generated by business
  • MobilePay opens, customer approves payment
  • Order confirmation displayed

3. Static QR (Unmanned):

  • Vending machines, self-checkout, parking meters
  • Print and display static QR code
  • Customer scans, merchant receives notification
  • Instant payment request sent

2024 Statistics

  • Nordic Transactions: 1.52 billion (Vipps MobilePay group)
  • Danish Instant Payments: ~600 million (primarily MobilePay)

Tap to Pay (December 2024)

  • Launch: Norway first, Denmark following
  • Technology: Apple NFC chip
  • Available: Danske Bank and SEB cardholders
  • Activation: Directly in MobilePay app

FIK / Indbetalingskort (Payment-Slip OCR Line)

Attribute Value
Standard Name FIK — Fælles Indbetalingskort (FI-kort); older family: girokort
Type Payment-slip reference line (OCR-B text, not a barcode)
System Det Fælles IndbetalingsSystem, developed jointly by the banks and PBS A/S [11]
Card types FI-kort 71, 73, 75; girokort 01, 04, 15 [16]
Font OCR-B size 1, digits plus < and + [11]

OCR line format: +KK<payment ID+creditor number<, e.g. +71<000000000123455+80882939< [11][18]. The read line has 58 positions of 1/10 in: + card type < (pos. 4–7), payment ID field (pos. 8–23), + 8-digit creditor number < (pos. 24–33) [11].

  • +71: 15-digit payment ID (14 digits + modulus-10 check digit); allows automatic posting; the most common type [11][14][16]
  • +73: no payment ID; free-text message to the payee (41 lines × 35 characters in online banking) [12][14]
  • +75: 16-digit payment ID (15 + modulus-10 check digit) plus a message [13][14]
  • Girokort 01/04/15: use a giro account number (up to 10 digits in bank payment files) instead of the 8-digit FI creditor number; 04 carries a 16-digit reference [15][17]
  • Creditor number: 8 digits, assigned by the creditor's bank; it does not reveal the bank, so creditors can change bank without changing it [11]
  • Amount check digits: pre-printed amounts on 73/75 slips may carry ISO 7064 MOD 97-10 check digits [12][13]

How payers use it: at a bank or post office, or by transfer in online banking, where the payer selects the card type and types the payment ID and creditor number [11][16]. Danske Bank's mobile app lets users "scan or enter the information on the payment form" [19]; photo payment of slips was introduced in Danske Mobilbank in December 2010 [20]. In OIOUBL e-invoices FIK is payment means code 93, with the account ID starting 71#, 73# or 75# and an 8-character creditor number [21].

See also: reports/standards/fik.md.

Mobile payment apps

App Name Bank MobilePay QR Instant
Danske Bank Danske Bank Integrated Yes Yes
Nordea Mobile Nordea Via app Yes Yes
Jyske Bank Jyske Bank Via app Yes Yes
Nykredit Nykredit Via app Yes Yes
MobilePay Vipps MobilePay Native Yes Yes

MobilePay Standalone App

  • Available on iOS and Android
  • Personal QR code for each user
  • Payment request via phone number or QR
  • Business payment acceptance
  • Tap to Pay for supported cards

Third-party payment apps

App Name Type QR Support Status
MobilePay Mobile wallet Yes Dominant
Apple Pay NFC Wallet No QR Growing (limited Dankort)
Google Pay NFC Wallet No QR Growing (limited Dankort)

Wallet Payment Growth

  • 2024: 1 in 3 physical commerce payments via wallets
  • Dankort declining as Apple/Google Pay grow
  • MobilePay remains dominant for QR payments

Schemes

Scheme Type Symbology Adoption Technical standard
MobilePay QR Payment QR QR Code 4.5M users mobilepay
Dankort Debit card Card 90% of Danes dankort
FIK (FI-kort +71/+73/+75) Payment-slip reference OCR-B text line Active fik

Sources

Full country report

DK-denmark.md

Schemes

Standards

Primary · 3

Mentioned · 2

source · content/payments/DK/index.md