Scandinavian markets conquered by a solution developed in Lithuania

Five years ago, Danish consumers were introduced to a new app, MobilePay. The free of charge and user-friendly solution gave smartphone owners the opportunity to make instant payments knowing just the phone number of the beneficiary. This was the start of the mobile payment revolution.

Today, MobilePay has over 4 million private clients across two countries – about 3.9 million in Denmark (90% of the population) and around 0.6 million users in Finland. The app is also used by more than 90,000 businesses. It is estimated that Danish users of the app make payments worth about 137,000 Danish krones (more than EUR 18,000) every minute. It is no surprise that MobilePay has become popular and is used daily and it has also been elected the second best known Danish trademark after Lego.

MobilePay A/S is operated by the biggest Danish finance group, Danske Bank. It functions as a separate start-up of financial services which develops partnerships with other banks and looks for development investors. Today the app is used by the clients of 65 banks.

Team – in Lithuania and Denmark

Currently, the MobilePay IT team has over 130 members divided between Denmark and Lithuania and is responsible both for strategic decisions and work planning and for implementation and supervision, maintenance and development of the product. This idea of a team working between two countries is characteristic of start-ups – and their internal culture – they never accept conventional long-established standards, they continuously question, why should a solution be developed in one direction or another.

“We are an international team which reveals all the strengths of its members. The team in Denmark is currently focused on the key parts of the technological platform of MobilePay, the development of the user interface and solutions for our payments in sales points, on the internet and other applications. The team in Lithuania focuses on improving the product design and user experience, quality assurance, user interfaces, business and private customer service platform and the development of regular payment solutions. In all cases we work closely and, when needed, travel to each other thus seeking to ensure even better cooperation and yield the best final result,” said Martynas Sarapinas, the director of MobilePay IT, who manages the teams in Denmark and Lithuania. Ingenuity lies in simplicity

The MobilePay app is as easy to use as a bank card or cash. To become a user, you only need to have a mobile phone with Android or iOS operation system, a phone number, and a valid bank card. After you create an account with these details and register as a private person, you can use all the features of the app. Registration for business clients also only takes a few minutes. Accepting payments from clients for products or services is much easier now.

“Our primary goal was to provide people with the opportunity to transfer money to each other in a way that was simple and free of charge. With this successful app, we have taken mobile payments to a new level in five years. Now it is an all-inclusive payment system adapted for the needs of both business and private clients. Payments can be accepted in shops, on the internet, in other apps, you can pay bills/invoices, donate money and make regular monthly payments, for instance, for telecommunication services, subscriptions to news services, utility services, etc.” Mr. Sarapinas continued.

Both public and private sector

MobilePay is used equally by small business and big companies, which thus provide their clients with the opportunity to pay for their purchases and services simply. Among such companies are street-truck owners that sell snacks and big trade consortia which govern service station chains, shopping centres, cinemas or hotel chains. MobilePay can also be used to pay for the public sector, enterprise or agency services. For instance, about 74% of train tickets in Denmark are purchased using MobilePay. The system can also be used to pay for lunch anywhere.

“Our advantage is our ability to adapt quickly to the needs of our clients. Reliable payments solutions that meet their needs and that lead to great experience are required; this is what we focus on,” Mr. Sarapinas said.

Presently, the MobilePay team is concentrating on business development in Finland. A cooperation agreement has been signed with the biggest retail group, the S Group, which has 1,600 points of sale and a special loyalty programme with 2.3 million members. It is expected that the first users will be able to pay for their daily purchases using MobilePay in SOK shops with a fully integrated loyalty programme as early as this autumn, thus 1.5 million daily payments in S Group shops will become faster and more innovative.

Source: Verslo žinios