Tap, Merge, Repeat! with Baard Slaattelid from Vipps MobilePay

In this episode of Fintech Daydreaming, Ville and Pål are joined by Baard Slaattelid from Vipps MobilePay - a man who casually drops phrases like “closed-loop wallet,” “payment potato,” and “we accidentally enabled cross-border in five minutes” like it’s just another Tuesday in payments.We start where all great fintech podcasts begin: with bad jokes (courtesy of AI, no less), and a host who may or may not be running on too much travel and too little sleep.Baard takes us through the origin story of Vipps MobilePay featuring real-time competitive panic, strategic acquisitions, and the realization that maybe having three identical payment apps in a region of 27 million people isn’t a long-term strategy. Who knew?From there, we dive into:.- What a “wallet” actually means (spoiler: it’s not just a pretty UI on top of your bank account).- How Vipps MobilePay ended up with 12.5 million users across the Nordics.- The surprisingly brutal reality of merging two platforms (hint: stop doing “fun stuff” for a year).- Why Danes thought that the new app was worse and why that might just be human nature.- The economics of payments (or lack thereof), including why tapping your phone isn’t exactly a goldmine in itselfWe also get into the juicy stuff:.- NFC and the battle with Apple (and how Vipps became the first to break into iPhone tap-to-pay outside Apple Wallet).- Why they’re not trying to convert Apple Pay users but instead going after your mom who still taps plastic.- The subtle art of turning a payments app into something closer to a “lifestyle platform” (super app, but we’re not calling it that… yet)And of course, no Fintech Daydreaming episode would be complete without:.- A deeply philosophical discussion on whether the digital euro is a “solution looking for a problem” or a “problem looking for a solution”.- A buffet of topics we didn’t have time for (interoperability, we’re coming back for you)Oh - and the jokes. They’re bad. Impressively bad. Almost… on brand.Episode hosted by Pål Krogdahl & Ville SointuEpisode produced and edited by Fintech Daydreaming- Email us on [email protected] Fintech Daydreaming home page - https://www.FintechDaydreaming.com- Fintech Daydreaming on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/fintech-daydreaming- Pål Krogdahl - https://www.linkedin.com/in/krogdahl/- Ville Sointu - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ville-sointu-54682b/