Vipps

What is Vipps?

Vipps MobilePay is Norway’s dominant mobile payment app — think of it as Norway’s equivalent of Venmo, PayPal or Swish. It is used for person-to-person transfers, paying in shops, online shopping, wish lists and group payments. If you are a parent in Norway, your child will almost certainly use Vipps. It is how pocket money, peer payments and everyday transactions work here.

Age limit: Children under 15 can use Vipps with parental controls (“Vipps under 15”). At age 15, parental controls end and the teen gets a standard account.

Why do kids like it?

• Everyone uses it. Vipps is a social norm in Norway. Not having it means being left out.
• Easy money transfers — sending and receiving money takes seconds. Splitting the bill for pizza, paying for snacks or sending money to a friend is effortless.
• Online shopping — children can buy things online without cash or a bank card.
• Wish lists — they can create and share wish lists with family and friends.
• Independence — having their own payment app gives a feeling of being grown up and self-reliant.

What are the real risks?

• “Vipps robberies” (Vipps-ran) — young people are physically threatened or coerced into transferring money via Vipps. This is a documented problem in Norway.
• Overspending and impulse purchases — digital money does not feel “real” the way cash does. It is easy to spend more than planned.
• Chat function — Vipps has a built-in chat that can be used for contact beyond payments.
• Wish lists visible to contacts — others can see what your child wants, giving insight into their interests and spending patterns.
• Scams targeting young users— fake sales, phishing messages and social engineering affect young users.

Settings to check

1. Open parental controls: Open Vipps → Meg → [child’s name]. All parental controls are built into your own Vipps app — no separate download needed.
2. Review activity: Check who your child has sent and received money from, chats, contactless payments and wish lists.
3. Toggle features: Open Vipps → Meg → [child’s name] → Toggle features, and enable or disable balance visibility, sending money, contactless payments (tap), Vipps number payments and wish lists.
4. Block contacts: Open Vipps → Meg → [child’s name] → Block contacts, and block contacts your child should not have Vipps contact with.
5. Confirm parent approval: Check that both parents have approved the setup by SMS before the child can send money, unless one parent has sole legal custody.
6. Limit the account balance: Keep balances low and transfer small amounts regularly.
7. Note the age-15 transition: Note that parental controls end automatically when the child turns 15.

How to talk about it

“How much money do you usually keep in Vipps, and what do you notice about your spending during a week?”

“Has anyone asked you to show your balance or send money? How did you handle it?”

“How do you want to handle Vipps and money when parental controls end at 15?”

Last reviewed: July 2026