Vipps must allow competitors access to BankAxept and BankID for three more years

In 2018, the Norwegian Competition Authority approved the merger between Vipps AS, BankAxept AS and BankID Norge AS with remedies. Today, the Authority has decided to prolong the decision with remedies for three more years.

The Authority’s decision from 2018 allowed the merger between Vipps, BankAxept and BankID on certain conditions. Vipps was, among other things, obliged to give third-party payment solutions access to the national payment system BankAxept and the electronic identification solution BankID, on non-discriminatory terms. The decision applied for three years, until 27 April 2021, with the possibility for the Authority to prolong the decision.

The Authority has considered whether to prolong the decision and maintain the remedies in place, and has consulted market players in that regard. The feedback from market players shows that an obligation on the part of Vipps to give third-party payment solutions access to BankAxept and BankID, is still needed, and that the remedies should be prolonged. The Authority has also found that market developments, and in particular the introduction of the PSD2-directive, has not resulted in improved competitive conditions. This underscores that the remedies still are needed.

– The Authority’s investigation shows that BankAxept and BankID still are important and necessary input factors in the market, says Senior Adviser Kristjan Ryste.

The Authority has found that the merger between Vipps, BankAxept and BankID would still significantly impede effective competition and that the remedies in question, therefore, remain necessary to remove the anti-competitive effects of the merger.

– The remedies in the decision make it possible for competing payment solutions to enter the market and compete with Vipps. The Authority shall in particular take the interest of consumers into account, and we are of the opinion that a prolongation of the remedies will contribute to that consumers can have access to the best possible payment solutions at the lowest possible prices, says Director Gjermund Nese.

It is the Authority’s assessment that a prolongation of the remedies for three more years is necessary to mitigate the anti-competitive effects of the merger.

The Authority has therefore decided to prolong the decision and to keep the remedies in place for three more years, until 27 April 2024.