> **Description:** Guidelines and regulations for payments in Vipps MobilePay.

# Payment rules

Vipps MobilePay supports a wide range of payment types, but not all payment contexts are equal under financial regulation. Understanding these rules upfront avoids surprises during onboarding and integration -- and protects both your business and your customers.

## Compliance and sales unit setup

Financial regulators require different handling depending on whether the cardholder is physically present at the time of payment -- for example, an in-store tap-to-pay versus an e-commerce checkout.

Vipps MobilePay carries out "Know Your Customer" (KYC) and compliance checks for each sales unit, and assigns the appropriate [Merchant Category Code (MCC)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merchant_category_code) on your behalf. As a result, **if your business accepts payments across different contexts** (e.g., both online and in-person, or across different product categories), you may be required to [create separate sales units](https://developer.vippsmobilepay.com/docs/knowledge-base/portal.md#how-to-add-a-new-sales-unit) for each.

Plan for this during integration design -- it affects how you structure your sales units and how payments are routed.

## Customer protection

Vipps MobilePay complies with local applicable laws and guidance from relevant authorities, including the Norwegian Data Protection Authority ([Datatilsynet](https://www.datatilsynet.no/rettigheter-og-plikter/personopplysninger/fodselsnummer/)).

**WARNING**

The customer must actively accept the terms and conditions before a payment is initiated. **Sending a deeplink directly to a payment does not satisfy this requirement.** Integrations that skip the acceptance step are non-compliant.

## Release unused funds promptly

If you reserve a payment but will not capture the full amount -- or will not capture at all -- you must cancel the unused portion as soon as possible.

This is not just a compliance obligation; it is also good practice:

- It frees up the customer's funds immediately, rather than leaving them reserved against their account.
- It keeps the customer's payment history in the Vipps or MobilePay app in sync with their expectations.
- It reduces inbound support contacts from customers who see a pending charge that never resolves.

To release funds, [cancel the payment](https://developer.vippsmobilepay.com/docs/knowledge-base/cancel.md).

## Payment deadlines

- [Capture deadlines](https://developer.vippsmobilepay.com/docs/knowledge-base/reserve-and-capture.md#capture-deadlines) -- how long a reservation stays valid before it expires automatically, including card network-specific limits for Visa and Mastercard.
- [Capture regulations](https://developer.vippsmobilepay.com/docs/knowledge-base/reserve-and-capture.md#capture-regulations) -- the regulatory requirement that capture must not occur before the product or service is delivered to the customer.

> **Full site overview:** For every page in this documentation, read [https://developer.vippsmobilepay.com/llms.txt](https://developer.vippsmobilepay.com/llms.txt).