Norway Country Report
- Published Date: June 2019
A comprehensive overview of the cards, payments and consumer banking market in Norway.
What you will learn from this report:
- Which income streams issuers look to for credit cards profitability
- Why contactless is key for the domestic scheme
- How Vipps has shaped mobile payments
- Which regulatory moves are impacting the market
- How Norwegians balance high revolve rates with credit quality
Norway Cards and Payments Market Key Facts
- Norwegians are the most frequent users of payment cards globally according to Verisk Financial Research analysis. The average adult made 593 card purchases in 2018.
- Although Norwegian consumers are among the most indebted in the world, they tend to be responsible borrowers, and credit quality remains good.
- The government has moved to safeguard against consumer debt problems by introducing credit bureaux and tightening regulations on unsecured consumer loans.
- Norway's credit cards market is competitive, with traditional banks, consumer finance specialists and online banks all active. Profitability is sound, thanks to high revolve rates and interest rates along with low loss rates.
- The majority of card transactions are on the domestic BankAxept debit scheme, through which almost $70 billion was transacted in 2018. Virtually all BankAxept cards are co-badged with Visa or Mastercard.
- Vipps, created by DNB, now acts as a national mobile payments scheme; it is jointly owned by over a hundred Norwegian banks.
- In 2018, Vipps merged with BankAxept and BankID to create a new payments company with significant reach in the Norwegian market.
- Norway is in the process of making improvements to its instant payments infrastructure, with completion expected by 2020. Separately, a pan-Nordic payments infrastructure, P27, is being created by six banks in neighbouring countries: Norway's currency should be part of P27, even though there is currently no direct participation by a Norwegian bank.
- DNB is the dominant bank in Norway, having a leading share across all retail banking categories including credit and debit card issuing.
- Nets plays a vital role in the country's payments landscape, operating the BankAxept scheme on behalf of the banks and serving as the leading acquirer of international schemes.
View the Norway Country Report Table of Contents
Key facts
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
Appendices: Data
Appendix I: Demographics and the economy
- Demographic and economic indicators
- Ownership of key consumer devices
- Internet usage by population
Appendix II: Payments environment-Access points
- Account penetration
- Consumer payment trends
- B2C e-commerce payment methods
Appendix III: Cards market
- Total cards payment metrics
- Contactless cards metrics
- Credit card numbers
- Total credit cards metrics
- Credit cards profitability indicators
- Debit cards numbers
- Debit cards metrics
- Appendix IV: Mobile payments
- Mobile proximity payment metrics
- Mobile P2P payments
Appendix V: Profit pool
- Profit pool
Appendix VI: The networks
- Networks' credit card market shares
- Networks' credit card numbers
- Networks' credit card billed volume
- Networks' number of credit card transactions
- Networks' average credit card transaction value
- Credit card interchange fees by network
- Networks' debit card market shares
- Networks' debit card numbers
- Networks' debit card billed volume
- Networks' number of debit card transactions
- Networks' average debit card transaction value
- Debit card interchange fees by network
Appendix VII: Key retail banks and issuers
- Key credit card issuers market shares by credit card numbers
- Key issuers market shares in credit card outstandings
- Key debit card issuers market shares by debit card numbers
Appendix VIII: Acquiring and processing
- Merchant acquirer credit card market share
- Credit card merchant service charges
- Merchant acquirer debit card market share
- Debit card merchant service charges
- Credit card issuer/issuing processor relationships
- Credit card acquirer/acquiring processor relationships
- Credit card issuing processor market shares by card numbers
- Credit card acquiring processor market shares by the number of POS transactions
Appendix IX: Online acquiring
- Online merchant acquirer market share
Entities referenced in this report
Aakra Sparebank AB Toscana Investment Account information service providers Advent Funds Advent International AISPs American Express Apple ATP Bain Capital Bain Capital Funds Bambora Bank Norwegian BankAxept Bankenes BetalingsSentral BankID Barclays BBS Betalinger med Raskere Oppgjør BRO Circle K Clearhaus Concardis Coop Cresco Danske Denmark DIBS Diners Club DK Online DNB DNB Asset Management DNB Bank DNB Eiendom DNB Markets EDB EDB Business Partner EEA eFaktura Eika Gruppen Elavon Merchant Services ePay ErgoGroup Esso Etne Sparebank Eurocard Euroline Evry EVRY Finans Norge Finanstilsynet Finland Finnair Flekkefjord Sparebank Flexus card Gjeldsregisteret Gjensidige Bank Gjensidige Forsikring Google Google Pay Handelsbanken Haugesund Sparebank Ikano Bank Ikano Finans IKEA Ingvar Kamprad Interchange Fee Regulation JCB Keycorp Klarna Klarna Checkout Komplett Bank Lillesand's Sparebank LOfavør Luster Sparebank Maestro Mastercard mCash MobilePay MPS Nets Nets/BBS Nordea Nordea Bank Nordea Bank Norge Nordic Capital Nordito Norges Bank Norges Bank Norsk Gjeldsinformasjon Norsk Tipping Norway Norwegian Air Shuttle Norwegian Competition Authority OP Financial Group P27 PayEx Payment initiation service providers Payment Services Directive PayPal PBS Pengeinstitutternes BetalingsSystemer PISPs Priceless Priority Rule Privatbanken PSD PSD2 Revised Payment Services Directive Ruter SAGA Samport Santander Consumer Bank Sbanken SEB SEB Kort SEPA Single Euro Payments Area Skandiabanken Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken Skudenes Sogne & Greipstad Sparebank SpareBank 1 Sparebank Alliance Sparebanken Sparebanken DIN Spillerkort Swedbank Sweden Third-party payment service providers TPPs TSYS US Bancorp Vipps Visa Volvo Voss Sparebank Zwipe
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Available for 72 markets, Verisk Financial Research Country Reports deliver invaluable market and competitor intelligence on payments cards, e-money, acquiring/processing, retail banking, and consumer credit. A dedicated team of analysts and researchers use both primary and secondary source data and conduct in-depth interviews with senior industry executives and experts.
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