Paris, May 12th, 2025 - The Nordic Initiative has established a strategic partnership with nexo standards to transform payment systems across the Nordic Tier 1 consumer- facing industries. This collaboration aims to develop standardized payment solutions to benefit businesses and consumers throughout the region.
The partnership unites major Tier 1 members of The Nordic Initiative across industries and Nordic borders to create payment solutions that enhance merchant flexibility while improving customer experience.
"This collaboration demonstrates our commitment to creating better solutions for the consumers while providing significant benefits to all of our members" says Iren Tranvaag, CEO of Nordic Initiative.
Why nexo standards?
As different strategic paths were explored, the Nordic Initiative concluded that nexo standards provide an ideal foundation for fostering cooperation, healthy competition, and innovation. With its robust global membership base, nexo standards brings together key players across the payments ecosystem.
“This partnership enables us to help shape global developments through the newly established Merchant Advisory Council (MAC), where the Nordic Initiative will play a central role in defining the future of payment systems. The collaboration also represents a step toward a stronger European coalition, as the platform welcomes all suppliers who adhere to the specifications”, Tranvaag comments.
Cost-Efficient and Flexible
“The partnership prioritizes interoperability - creating merchant systems that work seamlessly together regardless of provider. This approach ensures service interfaces can integrate with various systems without restrictions, giving merchants greater operational flexibility. This will contribute to a more robust and cost-effective critical infrastructure that benefits society as a whole, while simplifying collaboration across national borders”, says Erik Marcus Torkildsen, Manager Identification & Payments at Rema 1000, part of the leading Nordic and Baltic retail company Reitan Retail.
“Adopting shared standards will make it easier for retailers to integrate new payment service providers or partner with best-in-class vendors greatly minimizing implementation costs and service disruptions. This will make interoperability easier, foster innovation and overcome the challenges posed by proprietary systems”, comments Jean-Philippe Joliveau, Chairman of the Board of Directors at nexo standards.
“This is exciting. We will explore how various services can be integrated into the unified merchant solution - covering services like buy-now-pay-later, account-to-account transfer and loyalty programs”, says Kai Lindström, Vice President S Group in Finland.
Consumers will benefit from more consistent payment experiences across different retailers. The standardization will streamline transactions while enabling merchants to implement new payment options more efficiently.
About Nordic Initiative: The Nordic Initiative serves as the meeting point, coordinator, and facilitator, fostering collaboration among high achievers within Nordic Tier 1 companies across industries and borders. Its ambition is to pioneer innovative, customer-centric solutions, driving sustainable growth, and setting new benchmarks for excellence in the Nordic retail landscape.
About nexo standards: nexo standards is an international non-profit association headquartered in Brussels, Belgium. As a community of leading payment experts, its mission is to define, publish and promote global payment acceptance standards and supporting services that ensure interoperability between card acceptance and acquiring solutions, integrated retail and terminal management systems.
Position paper
Payment has always been an important part of the consumer journey in retail. The Nordics are on the path towards a cashless society, where regulation and new technology drives the pace of the change. But as complexity increases, and new players and innovation thrives, retailers are forced to take a stronger grasp on the surrounding partners to enhance the competitive edge of retail experiences.
Improving Nordic Payment Systems
Nordic Initiative Forms Strategic Partnership with nexo standards to Improve Nordic Payment Systems
The Nordic Initiative has established a strategic partnership with nexo standards to transform payment systems across the Nordic Tier 1 consumer- facing industries. This collaboration aims to develop standardized payment solutions to benefit businesses and consumers throughout the region.
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Views on a good payment solution
No lock-in
The market must work, with no lock-in effects (different standards or other barriers that make it difficult to change vendors)
6
Support different payment scenarios
Variable recurring payments. Flexible risk based payments. Different use cases not limited toPay first, buy later (Petrol), Hospitality, ecommerce, In-store, Subscription, in-app.
Purpose: Better fit for applying appropriate services to different retail scenarios
5
The retailers should be in control of the orchestration of customer dialogues.
Payment providers must allow the retailer to be in control of the client relationship and the transaction data generated in the retail channel.
Purpose: Ensure all embedded service offerings are aligned with the retail brand
4
Contextual authentication with the ability to be leveled up when required
The retailer needs an effective way to identify the customer. The quality of ID should be based on the situation the payment is being made, e.g. regular, small, on the run payments (buying a coffee) would require less quality of the ID than large, one-time purchases (buying a TV).
1
Standardized, rich and effective APIs
APIs must support customer centric retail experience across different channels. API providers should adhere to industry standards and market best practices catered by independent
Purpose: Predictable time to market for new and changed capabilities
2
Low, predictable and simple fees
The payment solutions should be cost effective across the total cost of the value chain. Leveled to actual and measurable risks. Not proportional to the amount of a basket.
Purpose: Prioritization of preferred services
3
Real time clearing and settlement
The money must be on the retailer's account at the time of the transaction.
7
Scheme fees
The card schemes need to lower their fees on in-store payment to reflect the low risk of the transaction
8
Limitations
Every year we facilitate billions of payment transactions and interact frequently with more customers than any other sector. This makes us by far the biggest users of payment solutions and the most important interface towards the customers. Still it is our joint experience that existing payment solutions do not support our need for providing seamless, effective and cheap services to our customers.
Billions
of payment transactions
Millions
of customers
Ineffective
Payment solutions
Halting
The customer journey
We write this paper as a call to action and an invitation to dialogue with: banks, card schemes and solution providers, other retailers that have identified the same challenge as us, regulators who want our input and innovative newcomers wanting to help!