National Bank of Denmark analysis shows mobile wallets account for nearly one in three in store payments and calls for stronger offline payment readiness

The National Bank of Denmark has published an analysis of Danish retail payments showing that digital payments now dominate physical commerce, while mobile wallets are reshaping how consumers pay. In 2025, digital payments accounted for 91 per cent of the number of in-store payments and 93 per cent of their value. Card-based wallets such as Apple Pay and Google Pay made up almost one in three payments in physical commerce, while physical payment cards remained the most widely used method at just over half of payments. The analysis says Danish consumers mainly prefer digital payment solutions because they are fast and easy to use. The shift toward wallets has reduced use of physical cards across all age groups, and 51 per cent of citizens now have access to a wallet payment solution on their smartphone. Wallet payments still mainly ride on international card schemes, but Dankort has gained share after more banks enabled Dankort in Apple Pay in 2025. The analysis links these changing habits to payment resilience: merchants that accept cards should be prepared to take offline payments during disruptions and more of them should consider deferred authorisation, which supports both physical cards and mobile wallets, unlike older local authorisation methods. It also says broader use of instant payments such as MobilePay in stores could improve resilience because they use separate infrastructure from card systems, although their use in physical commerce remains limited and wider adoption will depend on more convenient payment experiences.