Visa said it has agreed to acquire Tink, a Swedish open banking platform, for 1.8 billion euros.
Through a single API, Tink allows its customers to access aggregated financial data, use smart financial services such as risk insights and account verification and build personal finance management tools. Tink is integrated with more than 3,400 banks and financial institutions, reaching millions of bank customers across Europe.
Tink will retain its brand and current management team, and its headquarters will remain in Stockholm, Visa said in a statement.
The combination of Visa’s proven infrastructure and sustained investment in resilience, cybersecurity and fraud prevention with Tink’s APIs, technology and customer relationships is expected to help accelerate the adoption of open banking in Europe by ensuring a secure, reliable platform for innovation. As a result, consumers can better control their financial experiences, including managing their money, financial data and financial goals. At the same time, businesses large and small will have a greater and more customized range of tools to operate digitally and securely, whether reconciling bank statements and accounts or enabling alternative financing.
“Visa is committed to doing all we can to foster innovation and empower consumers in support of Europe’s open banking goals,” Al Kelly, CEO and Chairman of Visa, said in a statement.
“By bringing together Visa’s network of networks and Tink’s open banking capabilities we will deliver increased value to European consumers and businesses with tools to make their financial lives more simple, reliable and secure.”
Al Kelly, Visa CEO
“Visa is the perfect partner for the next stage of Tink’s journey, and we are incredibly excited about what this will bring to our employees, customers and for the future of financial services,” said Daniel Kjellén, CEO and Co-founder of Tink.
European Union law – the revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2) – mandates that banks enable access to registered third-party providers on behalf of, and with the consent of, their customers. As a result, innovators of all kinds, ranging from financial institutions, fintechs, developers, platform players and merchants, are increasingly leveraging open banking solutions to empower consumers with more choice in how and where they share their financial data. Tink is one of the over 440 third party providers across Europe that provides open banking services.
