# Norway — payment codes and schemes

> Source: https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/NO
> extracted at 2026-10-06
> Publisher: Barcoder — encyclopedia of QR, barcode and payment-code standards

## Summary

- **Vipps** dominates mobile payments (~4.2 million users, 75% of adult population)
- **BankAxept** is the national debit card (8 in 10 card payments, declining share)
- **NICS Real** processes instant payments (205 million in 2024)
- Norway **signed TIPS agreement** November 2024 (joining 2028)
- **DNB** dominates banking with 53.59% market share

## Banking landscape

### Central Bank
- **Name:** Norges Bank
- **Website:** https://www.norges-bank.no/
- **Role:** Oversees NICS, monetary policy, signed TIPS agreement

### Major Banks (2024)

| Rank | Bank Name | Total Assets (NOK) | Market Share | Type |
|------|-----------|-------------------|--------------|------|
| 1 | DNB Bank ASA | 3,036,890 M | 53.59% | Commercial (86.25% of commercial) |
| 2 | SpareBank 1 Sør-Norge | 386,910 M | 6.83% | Savings (18.03% of savings) |
| 3 | SpareBank 1 SMN | 242,730 M | 4.28% | Savings |
| 4 | Sparebanken Norge | 215,550 M | 3.80% | Savings |
| 5 | Nordea Norway | ~150,000 M | ~3% | Finnish subsidiary |

### Market Structure
- **Total Institutions:** ~120 financial institutions
- **DNB Dominance:** 53.59% of total assets, 86.25% of commercial bank assets
- **Savings Banks:** Strong regional presence (SpareBank 1 alliance)
- **Market Capitalization (DNB):** NOK 400 billion

### Large Corporate Banking (2024)
- **DNB:** 89% market penetration (leader)
- **Nordea:** Second position
- **Danske Bank:** Third position

---

## Payment infrastructure

### National Payment Systems

| System | Operator | Type | Status |
|--------|----------|------|--------|
| NBO | Norges Bank | RTGS | Active |
| NICS Real | Bits | Instant payments | Active (migrating to TIPS 2028) |
| NICS Netto | Bits | Batch clearing | Active |
| BankAxept | Bits | National debit card | Active |
| Vipps | Vipps MobilePay | Mobile payments | Active |

### NICS (Norwegian Interbank Clearing System)
- **Operator:** Bits AS (banking infrastructure company)
- **Authorization:** Norges Bank (per Payment Systems Act)
- **Operations:** MPSI (took over from Nets in 2024)
- **2024 Daily Settlement:** NOK 405 billion average
- **2024 Incidents:** 2 severe disruptions, resolved same day

### NICS Components
- **NICS Real:** Real-time settlement 24/7/365
- **NICS Netto:** Same-day settlement, cut-off ~14:30

### Instant Payments (2024)
- **Volume:** 205 million instant payments
- **Primary Channel:** Vipps mobile platform (P2P)
- **Secondary:** Online/mobile banking via NICS Real

### November 2024: TIPS Agreement
- **Signed:** November 28, 2024 (Norges Bank Governor + ECB President)
- **Service Start:** First half of 2028
- **Currency:** Norwegian krone (4th TIPS currency after EUR, SEK, DKK)
- **Rationale:** Cost efficiency, contingency, Nordic alignment

---

## QR code standards

### Vipps QR (Primary Standard)

| Attribute | Value |
|-----------|-------|
| **Standard Name** | Vipps QR |
| **Type** | Mobile payment QR |
| **Operator** | Vipps MobilePay AS |
| **Norwegian Users** | ~4.2 million |
| **Population Coverage** | ~75% of adults |
| **Nordic Total** | 11.5 million users |

#### QR Payment Methods

**1. Merchant Scans Customer QR:**
- Staff scans customer's personal Vipps QR code
- Payment request sent to customer's app
- Customer confirms in app
- No cash, cards, or terminal tapping needed

**2. Customer Scans Merchant QR:**
- QR displayed at checkout or mobile card reader
- Customer scans with Vipps app
- Common at food trucks, markets, festivals
- Vipps "at payment terminals" option

**3. Terminal Integration:**
- Uses NFC or QR-code scanning
- Available at grocery stores (REMA 1000, Bunnpris)
- Scan QR code initiates payment process

#### International QR (Historical)
- Vipps users could pay abroad using QR codes
- Based on Alipay QR-code format
- Cross-border capability

#### Vipps QR — technical format

Vipps MobilePay does not publish an open payload standard. Its QR codes encode **HTTPS URLs** that Vipps MobilePay issues through its QR API and ePayment API. The fetched documentation describes no EMVCo-style TLV merchant payload [11][13][14].

- **Domain control:** only QR codes on the `qr.vipps.no` domain are accepted when scanned inside the Vipps or MobilePay app. Vipps MobilePay says merchants can technically make their own payment QR codes, but answers its own question "will it work?" with "No", because the company keeps control of what is scanned and of universal linking [12].
- **One-time payment QR (dynamic):**
  - The merchant creates a payment with `"userFlow": "QR"` in the ePayment API and receives a link to the QR image [15].
  - In the older eCom flow, the payment deep link (`https://api.vipps.no/dwo-api-application/v1/deeplink/vippsgateway?v=2&token=…`) is posted to the QR API, which returns a QR image [14].
  - The purchase times out after **10 minutes**, so these codes cannot be printed [14].
- **Merchant redirect QR (static):**
  - Created with `POST /qr/v1/merchant-redirect` using a merchant-chosen `id` and a `redirectUrl`.
  - The code opens the merchant's web page with any phone camera and does not need the app.
  - It never times out, and its target URL can be changed later without reprinting the code [13].
- **Merchant callback QR (static):**
  - Created with `PUT /qr/v1/merchant-callback/{merchantQrId}`.
  - The API response includes a `qrContent` of the form `https://qr.vipps.no/…`.
  - When a user scans it, the merchant receives a `user.checked-in.v1` webhook and then sends a payment request [16].
- **Personal QR:**
  - Each user has a personal QR code in the app, for example `https://qr.vipps.no/p/<token>`.
  - A merchant scans it and calls `POST /qr/v1/exchange`, which returns the user's MSISDN (this endpoint was added in March 2024) [17][23].
- **Image delivery:**
  - QR images are delivered as **PNG or SVG** from an unauthenticated image URL.
  - PNG size ranges from 100 to 2,000 px (default 1,024), with a white border of 0–100 px (default 8) [11].

### KID (Norwegian payment reference)

KID (*kundeidentifikasjon*) is Norway's structured payment reference for invoices and giro payments [18][19][20].

- **Format:** up to **25 digits**. The last digit is a check digit calculated by **MOD10 (Luhn)** or **MOD11**. Under MOD11, a remainder of 1 gives a `-` as the check digit [18][19].
- **Payee setup:** each payee registers its KID length(s) and algorithm with its bank, with up to 3 KID structures per AvtaleGiro/OCR agreement [19][20].
- **Where it is used:**
  - **OCR giro:** the KID is printed on the giro and returned to the payee in the OCR giro file, in record positions 50–74 [18].
  - **AvtaleGiro** direct debit [19].
  - **eFaktura**, where the KID's customer ID should match the eFaktura reference [19].
  - **Corporate ISO 20022 payments**, where it is sent as a `SCOR` structured reference and validated by the bank [21].
- **Operator:** Nets built OCR giro, AvtaleGiro and eFaktura. Mastercard bought Nets' account-to-account business, including AvtaleGiro/eFaktura, for €2.85 billion; the sale completed in March 2021 [22]. Mastercard Payment Services now publishes the KID rules [19].
- **International counterpart:** the [RF Creditor Reference (ISO 11649)](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/standards/rf-creditor-reference) (ISO 11649) is the international equivalent.

### 2024 Payment Statistics (Norges Bank)
- **Web/Terminal Solutions:** 20% of physical POS payments (March 2024)
- **Cash Share:** 3% of total, 2% of POS, 4% of P2P

---

## Mobile payment apps

| App Name | Bank | Vipps | QR | BankAxept Mobile |
|----------|------|-------|----|------------------|
| DNB | DNB | Integrated | Yes | Yes |
| SpareBank 1 | SpareBank 1 Alliance | Via app | Yes | Yes |
| Nordea | Nordea | Via app | Yes | Yes |
| Vipps | Vipps MobilePay | Native | Yes | N/A |

### Card Usage Statistics
- **Cards per Person:** 572 transactions annually (2024)
- **Norway Rank:** One of world's highest card usage per capita

---

## Schemes

| Scheme | Type | Symbology | Adoption | Technical standard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Vipps QR](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/NO/vipps-qr) | Payment QR | QR Code (HTTPS URL on qr.vipps.no; proprietary, non-EMVCo) | 4.2M users | — |
| [KID](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/NO/kid) | Payment reference | Numeric, ≤25 digits, MOD10/MOD11 check digit | Nationwide | [`kid`](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/standards/kid) |
| [BankAxept](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/NO/bankaxept) | Debit card | Card | 49% of cards | [`bankaxept`](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/standards/bankaxept) |

## Sources

- [Life in Norway - What is Vipps](https://www.lifeinnorway.net/what-is-vipps/)
- [Wikipedia - Vipps](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vipps)
- [Norges Bank - Payment Services 2024](https://www.norges-bank.no/en/news-events/publications/Norges-Bank-Papers/2024/memo-1-24-payment-services/web-report-papers-1-24-payment-services/)
- [Norges Bank - Retail Payment Services 2024](https://www.norges-bank.no/en/news-events/publications/retail-payment-services/retail-payment-services-2024/web-report-retail-payment-services-2024/)
- [ECB - Norway Joins TIPS](https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/pr/date/2024/html/ecb.pr241129~e98f169ac2.en.html)
- [TheBanks.eu - Norway Major Banks](https://thebanks.eu/countries/Norway/major_banks)
- [Wikipedia - BankAxept](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BankAxept)
- [BankAxept - National Payment Card](https://bankaxept.no/en/norways-national-payment-card)
- [Bits AS - NICS](https://www.bits.no/en/nics/)
- [The Local Norway - Vipps Guide](https://www.thelocal.no/20240523/vipps-the-key-things-to-know-about-norways-mobile-payment-service)
- [Vipps MobilePay - QR API code formats](https://developer.vippsmobilepay.com/docs/APIs/qr-api/api-guide/code-formats.md)
- [Vipps MobilePay - QR API FAQ](https://developer.vippsmobilepay.com/docs/APIs/qr-api/qr-api-faq.md)
- [Vipps MobilePay - Merchant redirect QR](https://developer.vippsmobilepay.com/docs/APIs/qr-api/api-guide/merchant-redirect.md)
- [Vipps MobilePay - One-time payment QR (QR API)](https://developer.vippsmobilepay.com/docs/APIs/qr-api/api-guide/one-time-payment.md)
- [Vipps MobilePay - ePayment API one-time payment QR](https://developer.vippsmobilepay.com/docs/APIs/epayment-api/api-guide/features/qr-payments.md)
- [Vipps MobilePay - Merchant callback QR](https://developer.vippsmobilepay.com/docs/APIs/qr-api/api-guide/merchant-callback.md)
- [Vipps MobilePay - Personal QR](https://developer.vippsmobilepay.com/docs/APIs/qr-api/api-guide/personal-qr.md)
- [Nets - System Specification OCR giro (ENG), v4.0](https://www.nets.eu/no-nb/SiteCollectionDocuments/OCR%20giro/System%20specification%20(ENG).pdf)
- [Mastercard Payment Services - KID](https://mastercardpaymentservices.com/norway/utvikler/kid)
- [Wikipedia (NO) - KID-nummer](https://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/KID-nummer)

## Full country report

[NO-norway.md](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/NO)