The propriety solutions and its near monopoly in both Sweden & Norway (and perhaps other countries) are also due to the slow expansion and adoption of Apple Pay

The propriety solutions and its near monopoly in both Sweden & Norway (and perhaps other countries) are also due to the slow expansion and adoption of Apple Pay and Google/Android Pay into those countries. Apple Pay was only launched in Norway earlier this year and Google Pay only a few weeks ago. So the propriety solutions have had a lot of time to establish their monopoly. Also, Apple/Google pay uses the Visa/Mastercard/Amex networks whilst 8 out of 10 of all card transactions in Norway is via BankAxept. BankAxept payments are near instant and has a very low transaction fee. A flat fee of 24 øre (0.03 USD) which most of the time a lot less than Visa/Mastercard that charge 1-2%. You will find a lot of independent merchants in Norway, e.g. corner shops that won't accept Visa & Mastercard, but only accept BankAxept. This is also why Apple Pay only works in a few places, compared to the UK where I live where Apple Pay is accepted nearly everywhere. [1] https://www.norgedaily.com/google-pay-launched-norway/ https://www.norgedaily.com/google-pay-launched-norway/ [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BankAxept https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BankAxept [3] https://no.mobiletransaction.org/bankaxept/ https://no.mobiletransaction.org/bankaxept/