Visa Closes Deal to Acquire European Open Banking Platform Tink for $2B

Visa has finalized its deal to purchase Tink, the Sweden-based open banking platform, for $2 billion, according to a Thursday (March 10) press release.

Open banking enables financial institutions (FIs), FinTechs and merchants to use third-party payment service providers to access banking transactions and other data from banks and financial institutions (FIs).

Tink allows customers to transfer cash, access financial data and use financial services through an application programming interface (API), a software intermediary that allows two applications to talk to each other. Tink said it is integrated with more than 3,400 banks and FIs and millions of customers in Europe.

Now that the transaction is complete, Visa and Tink are expected to enable clients to deliver consumer benefits designed to improve control over their finances. Among the features include helping to manage their money, providing financial data and goals.

Businesses of all sizes will have access to more tools to operate digitally and securely, such as initiating payments, reconciling bank statements or enabling financing, Visa said.

“Digital tools are driving the new economy,” said Charlotte Hogg, CEO of Visa Europe, in a statement. “The combination of Visa and Tink will support greater choice and quality of digital money services as the lines between commerce, financial services and payments continue to converge.”

Visa announced in June that it was acquiring Tink.

Read more: Visa Acquiring Swedish Open Banking Platform Tink For $2B

At the time, Visa CEO and Chair Al Kelly said the company is committed to doing all it can to foster innovation and empower consumers in support of Europe’s open banking goals.

“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,” Kelly said in a statement.