After forced unlocking: First Apple Pay option launches on iPhones in Europe

For the first time, iPhone users can make contactless payments at checkout with a service other than Apple Pay: Mobile payment app Vipps will offer vital NFC functionality to its customers in Norway from Monday, the provider has announced. All you need to do to pay with a bank card stored in Vipps is to hold your iPhone near the cash register terminal. Initially, regional banking group SpareBank 1 will be supported, among others. Vipps MobilePay wants to provide this feature in other countries like Denmark, Finland and Sweden in 2025.

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Vips “has struggled for years to be able to compete on equal terms with Apple,” payment service said – This will now be an “exciting battle”. Similar to PayPal, Vipps already supports several other payment options, including direct transfers between users, online payments, and QR codes.

Payment services and mobile wallets have recently added the option to access the iPhone’s NFC interface for payment transactions. This option was previously reserved only for Apple Pay. To avoid impending competition penalties, Apple has committed to opening the iPhone to other NFC wallets in the European Economic Area (EEA). In August, the group announced it would also support it in other regions such as the United States – with pressure from regulators increasing there too.

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iPhone NFC is also opening outside Europe

In the EEA, Apple relies on Host Card Emulation (HCE) technology to allow payments via the same NFC radio interface as Android. In the United States, Apple wants to enable mobile wallets using “secure elements” integrated into iPhones. The special chip allows payments to be processed using industry-standard Java Card applets. Apple refused this inauguration for a long time, citing security concerns.

With iOS 18.2, which is expected to be released as an update shortly, users will be able to set a default wallet on the iPhone for the first time. This means that other wallets should work just as conveniently as Apple Pay. This includes, for example, that the wallet with the stored card can be called up directly for payment by pressing the standby button twice.

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