A group of banks in Denmark, Finland and Norway said on Wednesday they plan to merge their mobile payment apps to create one of the biggest services of its kind in Europe.

Denmark’s Danske Bank said in a statement that it will merge its MobilePay app with Vipps, which is operated by a consortium of Norwegian banks, and Pivo, which is owned by Finnish financial services provider, OP Financial Group.

“Serving 11 million users and over 330,000 shops and web shops, the company will be one of the largest bank-owned mobile payment providers in Europe,” Danske Bank said. 

The combined company, with a workforce of 500 and headquartered in Oslo, will be 65 per cent owned by the Norwegian banks behind Vipps, 25 per cent by Danske Bank and 10 per cent by OP Financial Group, the statement said. 

Vipps chief executive Rune Garborg will head the joint venture. “To be competitive in a global payment market we need to make more of an impact, and the merger will give us the competitiveness we need,” Garborg said.

To be competitive in a global payment market we need to make more of an impact, and the merger will give us the competitiveness we need- Vipps chief executive Rune Garborg

Vipps said the new service will allow cross-border payments.

The banks said they expected the deal to receive final regulatory approval, including from the European Commission, “in the second half of 2021 or in early 2022.”