Redirecting the user to a website or app

You can redirect the user to a website or app once they have used Vipps or MobilePay to log in to your site, complete a payment, accept an agreement, or similar.

Most of the APIs provide the redirect functionality in different flows. For example:

• Checkout API
• ePayment API
• Login API
• Recurring API

Universal links and asset links, and the landing page

When a payment is initiated, an agreement is established, or a similar request is made, our API will return a URL.

The phone’s operating system uses universal linking (iOS) and asset links (Android) to recognize it as owned by Vipps MobilePay. This triggers an app-switch, automatically opening the Vipps or MobilePay app for seamless payment confirmation — without user input.

See the landing page for more details.

important

The app-switch only works if the landing page URL opens within ~3 seconds after the user clicks the link. Delays longer than that may prevent the switch, and result in the landing page being shown. This is based on observed behavior, as the exact timeout isn’t documented by Apple or Google.

Recommendations regarding handling these redirects

We have limited control over the redirect back to the merchant's website after a completed purchase or log-in. Your integration must not assume that the app will redirect to the exact same session. For example, don't rely entirely on cookies in order to handle the redirect event. The redirect may send the user to a different web browser.

Examples of some, but not all, factors outside our control:

• Configurations set by the operating system, for example the default browser.
• User configurations of browsers.
• Users closing the app immediately upon purchase.

Because of this, we recommend a stateless approach on the website that should be the end of the session. For example, implement polling-based result handling from a value in the redirect URL.

Examples

An example of how redirects should be handled:

1. The user starts a web session in the non-default browser (e.g., Firefox).
2. A Vipps or MobilePay purchase is started where the merchant specifies a redirect URL.
3. The user completes the purchase in the Vipps or MobilePay app.
4. The app requests the operating system to open the URL specified in step 2.
5. The OS opens the URL in the default browser, not necessarily the browser where the session started (e.g., Firefox).
6. The merchant handles the redirect without the customer noticing any discrepancies from the browser switch.

note

If the user has installed an ad blocker, that may cause problems opening URL with custom URL schemas.

See also: changing the default browser on iOS

See Payment FAQ for related questions.