Visa charges ahead, swipes up open banking platform Tink for €1.8 billion

Payments giant Visa has announced a definitive agreement to purchase Stockholm’s open banking platform Tink for €1.8 billion, including cash and retention incentives. Tink will continue to operate as its own brand and no management team changes are slated.

After the Plaid deal was blocked by the US Justice Department over competition concerns, Visa was clearly still on the hunt for a big player in the open banking space. Et voilà, if we're not making the jump to Plaid, let's go grab a cup of Tink.

Founded in 2012 by Daniel Kjellén and Fredrik Hedberg, Tink provides the backbone of a number of financial services including aggregation, payment initiation, data enrichment, and personal finance management, and are in use by some of the biggest players including ABN AMRO, BNP Paribas Fortis, Nordea, Klarna, and SEB.

Visa Europe CEO Charlotte Hogg comments, “This acquisition is a sign of our commitment to Europe. In Tink, we have found a strong partner with whom we can accelerate innovation in open banking for the benefit of our collective clients and the citizens of the U.K. and the E.U., while investing in high-skill tech jobs on the continent.”

The acquisition is subject to the customary regulatory approvals and closing conditions. Visa is reported to be funding the transaction from cash on hand and this transaction will have no impact on Visa’s previously announced stock buyback program or dividend policy.

“For the past ten years we have worked relentlessly to build Tink into a leading open banking platform in Europe, and we are incredibly proud of what the whole team at Tink has created together. We have built something incredible and at the same time we have only scratched the surface. Joining Visa, we will be able to move faster and reach further than ever before. 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 CEO Kjellén.