Campaign Guidance - Norway

Norway Guidance & Regulations

Please ensure that you review the Norway - Strex Merchant Code of Conduct, so that you are familiar with the regulatory requirements in Norway.

Campaign

The customer must be informed of all terms and conditions that are linked to the purchase prior to the customer entering into an agreement. These should include but are not limited to;

  • The name of the service
  • Price / Tariff:
    • Clearly displayed in a legible format and font, with a contrasting background colour.
    • The consumer must be informed about the correct price before being asked to give up or enter any form of information. On a web page this means the price must be shown above any “Type your phone number here” field.
  • How to opt out and cancel the service. The word STOPP must be displayed in capitals.
  • Customer care contact details must be visible.
  • The name of the service provider must be displayed on the landing page.
  • State that the fee will be added to the user’s phone bill or deducted from their pre-paid credit.
  • Full Terms and Conditions link to be visible and accessible.
  • Subscription campaigns must also clearly state:
    • That the service is a subscription, using the word “abonnement”. The information must be eye-catching and clearly noticeable to the consumer.
    • State the billing cycle, e.g. daily or weekly and whether the service will automatically renew
    • That delivery of the service is on a continuous basis
    • State how long the agreement is for
    • State how it is only available for consumers aged 18 and over.
  • Any age limit 
  • Any handset compatibility requirements for the service
  •  All promotional material, messages and content must be displayed in the local, Norwegian language.

Marketing

There are several different marketing methods available in Norway, however you must ensure that you do not mis-lead consumers, advertise a service using an unrelated banner or state that something is free, when that is not the case. You will need to provide our Compliance Team with information on your marketing plans, along with copies of any and all banners that you intend to use.

If you plan to use the customer's details to market to them in the future, you must gain permission from the user and ensure that you provide them with a clear and simple method to opt-out. 

Message Flow

Confirmation or receipt message This must be sent to confirm a purchase, this must include but is not limited to:

  • The company name 
  • A description of the item purchased
  • The price in NOK
  • The customer care support number

Subscription confirmation message: Customers ordering subscription services shall immediately receive an information message beginning with the word “Abonnement” (Subscription) and should include:

  • The price 
  • duration of the subscription
  • How often the subscription is charged (daily, weekly or monthly) and the duration of the
  • Whether the subscription is renewed automatically or not
  • Customer care number
  • How to opt out and cancel the service. 
  • Example - EN: Subscription welcome to {Service name}. NOK {tariff} per {billing period}. The subscription is renewed each {billing period} until termination notice is given. Send STOPP to XXXX to stop this service. Customer service 0000 0000

Reminder: The Service Provider must send to the consumer, a free reminder message at each subscription renewal, which must include the following:

  • Name of the Service
  • Price and if its a subscription, how often the consumer will be charged
  • Whether the subscription is automatically renewed
  • How to stop the service
  • Customer care number

For trial subscriptions, this reminder must be sent 24 hous prior to the billing.

For Variable billing, e.g. chat services, a reminder must be sent every 20 messages, this free message should contain the points above. 

Stop: A confirmation message must be sent, confirming that the consumer has been unsubscribed and the subscription has ended.

  • EN: FreeMsg: You are now unsubscribed from {name of service}. Helpline {non-premium, must not charge more than national rate}.

Customer care / Refund Policy

Customer service shall be available during business hours. The customer service must have a Norwegian telephone number and must be accessible from both landline and mobile phone. Customer service staff must master Norwegian in speech and writing. When customer service is closed, information on opening hours must be provided in Norwegian on an answering machine.

All service providers must have a detailed customer care process and refund policy in place.

You need to ensure that a process is in place for consumers to gain help should they require it, along with a refund policy for those that require one or are eligible for a refund.

This will be discussed in detail, to ensure that our customer care team can resolve any queries that are received from the networks or regulator. 

General Requirements

Multi-billing is not allowed. You cannot exceed limits or send more than one message to charge the consumer a higher amount. 

For subscription services, it is possible to retry messages however this is limited to one attempt per day per customer. You must not exceed this limit.

The Merchant shall classify the good or service according to minimum age and use the API to control the age of the Customer. If the age control shows that the Customer is under the required age for the service, the payment transaction will be stopped by Strex and the good or service shall not be delivered to the Customer. The Customer shall receive an information message with reference to the Customer’s age as a reason for rejected delivery. For example: “You are not old enough to use this service or your mobile operator does not have information about your age. Contact your mobile operator for registration of correct age.” The Merchant shall classify the good or service paid for according to the applicable minimum age using the “Age” parameter in the payment transaction.

To prevent sending new customers messages targeted to previous owners of a phone number, the merchant must terminate all subscriptions and delete all customer information if the Merchant has unsuccessfully attempted to fulfil a payment transaction to the customer over a period of 60 days.

NOTE: Please be advised that Click2SMS flows are not allowed in Norway. They are in breach of the Code and if found to be using this flow, will result in an instant suspension. 

Question? Speak with our Compliance Team for any advice for this or any other market.