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Norway Cards & Payments Market Report
- Published Date: November 2021
NORWAY CARDS AND PAYMENTS REPORT
A comprehensive overview of Norway's cards, payments and consumer banking market, with clearsighted commentary backed by relevant data.
This fascinating market, though concentrated, is in line for a consolidation process involving the numerous savings banks, while, with ninety per cent of adults using online banking, neobanks and fintechs are on the rise.
Cash usage has fallen to a remarkable two per cent of consumer spend value: there is a good opportunity here for new entrants well-armed with insightful market analysis.
What you will learn from this report:
How payments are evolving in a near-cashless environment.
The impact of mobile wallets on e-commerce.
Why Vipps is on course to become a European leader.
What makes credit card lending so attractive for issuers.
NORWAY COUNTRY REPORT | KEY FACTS
- The pandemic has substantially affected payment usage, further reducing the use of cash.
- Norwegians are among the most frequent users of payment cards globally, although in-store card purchases decelerated in 2020 and 2021.
- Cards are the preferred payment method in Norway, accounting for 59 per cent of consumer payments value.
- To safeguard against consumer debt problems, credit bureaux have been promoted and regulations on unsecured loans tightened.
- Despite Covid-19, profitability remains healthy in retail banking and finance.
- Two out of three card purchase transactions are made via BankAxept, with 38 per cent of the value of consumer transactions taking place through that domestic debit scheme in 2021.
- Mobile payment solutions here have consolidated around Vipps, the national mobile payments scheme involving over a hundred participant banks.
- About two of every three network payment cards issued in Norway carry the Visa brand.
- DNB is the dominant bank, enjoying the leading share across all retail banking categories, including credit and debit card issuing.
- Nets plays a vital role, operating the BankAxept and Vipps schemes on behalf of the banks and serving as the leading acquirer of international network cards.
Norway Payments Research | Report Contents
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Demographics and the economy
Payments environment
Cards market
Mobile payments
Profit pool
The networks
Key retail banks and issuers
Acquiring and processing
Online acquiring
Regulatory and other cards market information
Norway Country Report Data Tables
(All 2015-24F unless otherwise stated)
1: Demographic and economic indicators.
2: Ownership of key consumer devices.
3: Internet usage by population.
4: Access points: 2015-22E.
5: Account penetration.
6: Consumer payment trends: 2015-22F.
7: B2C e-commerce payment methods: 2015-22F.
8: Total card payment metrics.
9: Contactless card metrics.
10: Credit card numbers.
11: Total credit card metrics.
12: Credit cards profitability indicators.
13: Debit card numbers.
14: Debit card metrics.
15: Prepaid/e-money card metrics.
16: Mobile proximity payment metrics: 2017-24F.
17: Mobile P2P payments.
18: Profit pool: credit card numbers, billed volumes, outstandings, interest incomes, net interest revenues, merchant revenues, card fee revenues, other non-interest incomes, total revenues, net credit losses, operating expenses, total expenses, pre-tax profits, merchant service charges, rollover rates, APR, net credit losses to outstandings, operating costs to revenues, ROA (pre-tax profits to outstandings).
(All below 2015-22F unless otherwise stated)
19: Networks' credit card market shares.
20: Networks' credit card data numbers.
21: Networks' credit card billed volume.
22: Networks' number of credit card transactions.
23: Networks' average credit card transaction value.
24: Credit card interchange fees by network.
25: Networks' debit card market shares.
26: Networks' debit card data numbers.
27: Networks' debit card billed volume.
28: Networks' number of debit card transactions.
29: Networks' average debit card transaction value.
30: Debit card interchange fees by network.
31: Key credit card issuers market shares by credit card numbers: 2017-22F.
32: Key issuers market shares in credit card outstandings: 2017-22F.
33: Key debit card issuers market shares by debit card numbers: 2017-22F.
34: Merchant acquirer credit card market share: 2021E.
35: Credit card merchant service charges: 2015-24F.
36: Merchant acquirer debit card market share: 2021E.
37: Debit card merchant service charges: 2015-24F.
38: Credit card issuer/issuing processor relationships: -
39: Credit card acquirer/acquiring processor relationships: -
40: Credit card issuing processor market shares by card numbers: 2021E.
41: Credit card acquiring processor market shares by the number of POS transactions: 2021E.
42: Online merchant acquirer market share: 2021E.
Norway Country Report | Selected Extracts
Demographics and Economy
Norway is one of the wealthiest countries in the world. The country is dependent on the petroleum sector, which accounted for 41% of total exports in 2020 and some 14% of GDP.
Payments Environment
Payment cards are, by far, the most popular payment instrument in terms of volume and value of transactions. The average adult here will make close to 560 card purchases in 2021 with total spend per adult of almost $24,000.
Cards market
There were 12.8 million payment cards in circulation at the end of 2020: 5.5 million with credit or charge card functionality and 7.3 million with debit. Norwegians tend to prefer debit cards for most of their spending because of the growing consumer preference for cashless payments.
Mobile Payments
The use of mobile phones is now by far the most widely used method of transfers between individuals in Norway. According to the central bank, four out of five such payments during 2020 were made using mobile phones, most of them through the Vipps platform.
Profit Pool
The credit card business in Norway has remained consistently profitable thanks to relatively high rollover rates and APRs along with low default rates. However, in spite of this, pre-tax profitability fell by a fifth during 2020.
Card Networks
Mastercard is the dominant credit card network in Norway, with a share of over 72% of cards in issue. Combined, Visa and American Express have an estimated market share of nearly 28%. Debit cards are the most popular form of payment cards in this market, representing 81% of total card spend in 2020.
Key Retail Banks and Issuers
The credit cards market in Norway is competitive, with domestic and foreign banks marketing diverse cards. Key issuers include DNB Bank, SEB Kort, Bank Norwegian, SpareBank 1, Santander Consumer Bank, EnterCard, Ikano Bank and Nordea Bank Norge.
Acquiring and Processing
Merchants in Norway typically enter into three agreements to accept cards: one for terminal provision, another for BankAxept and a third for international cards. Norway's issuers tend to outsource credit card processing, either partly or wholly. The leading issuing processors in the market are TSYS, TietoEVRY and Nets.
Online Acquiring
Of total online purchases in Norway during 2020, 54% was spent on physical products, 20% in services and 26% on travel (down from 52% in 2019).
Regulatory and Markets Information
Norway is a member of the European Economic Area (EEA) but not the European Union. However, Norwegian financial law is harmonised with EU legislation.
Norway Payments Report | Entities Referenced
Aakra SpareBank
Advent International
Alipay
American Express
Apple Pay
Apple
ATP
Bain Capital
Bambora
Bank Norwegian
BankAxept
Bankenes BetalingsSentral
Bankgirot
BankID Norge
Barclays
BBS
Beautiful Card Corporation
bunq
Centurion
Circle K
Clearhaus
Concardis
Danske
DIBS
Diners Club
Discover
DK Online
DNB
DNB Asset Management
DNB Boligkreditt
Easy
EcoCard
EDB Business Partner
EEA
eFaktura
Eika Gruppen
Elavon
EnterCard
ePay
Esso
Etne SpareBank
EU
Eurocard
Euroline
European Commission
European Economic Area
European Single Market
European Union
EVRY
Finance Norway
Financial Supervisory Authority of Norway
Finans Norge
Finanstilsynet
Finnair
Fitbit Pay
Flekkefjord SpareBank
Flexus
Garmin Pay
GDPR
Gjeldsregisteret
Google
Google Pay
Handelsbanken
Haugesund SpareBank
Hellman & Friedman
Ikano Bank
Ikano Finans
IKEA
JCB
Keycorp
Klarna
Komplett Bank
Lillesands SpareBank
Luster SpareBank
Mastercard
mCash
MobilePay
Monese
MPS
N26
Netaxept
Neteller
Nets
Nets/BBS
Nets Norge Infrastruktur
NICS
Nordea
Nordic Capital
Nordito
Norges Bank
NorgesGruppen
Norsk Gjeldsinformasjon
Norsk Tipping
Norwegian Air Shuttle
Norwegian Competition Authority
Norwegian Interbank Clearing System
OP Financial Group
P27
PayPal
PaySafeCard
PBS
Pengeinstitutternes BetalingsSystemer
Pivo
PostNord
Privatbanken
PSD2
Revolut
Ruter
Samport
Santander
SAS
Sbanken
SEB
SEB Kort
SEPA
Single Euro Payments Area
Skandia
Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken
Skudenes
Sogne og Greipstad Sparebank
SpareBank
SpareBank Alliance
Sparebanken Møre
Spillerkort
Straks
Swedbank
Tieto
TietoEVRY
Tink
TSYS
UnionPay
Vipps
Visa
Vital Forsikring
Volvo
Voss SpareBank
Wise
Worldline
Zwipe
More Nordic Card Payments Reports
EUROPE CARDS & PAYMENTS REPORTS
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