Visa’s Tink Debuts Merchant Information for Greater Transaction Visibility

Visa-owned open banking platform Tink wants to give consumers a better view of transactions.

The company on Tuesday (Oct. 1) launched “Merchant Information,” a solution that provides users with a more detailed view of banking transactions, showing them things like a clear brand name, logo, location and merchant contact details.

“By providing a clear and understandable way of presenting bank account transactions, Tink’s new Merchant Information solution is a win-win for all parties,” Jack Spiers, Tink’s banking and lending director, said in a news release.

“Consumers can easily recognize their transactions, reducing the need to contact their bank for additional information or to request a refund. While for banks, this opens up large potential cost savings, through fewer enquiries.”

The company says its research has found that 45% of British adults want their banks to provide more info about individual payments, like locations and retailer names. With Merchant Information, Tink said, consumers can get a better view of transactions.

Banks, meanwhile, will better be able to prevent friendly fraud — a term for consumers intentionally reporting legitimate transactions as fraudulent — and improve their fraud models through “granular transaction information,” the release added.

Tink is launching the solution in seven European markets this year, with a full European roll out planned by the spring of 2025.

As covered here earlier this week, the demand for seamless, real-time financial information is fueling a shift in banking, one driven by trends such as open banking and embedded finance. 

“As open banking and embedded finance become more ingrained in the financial ecosystem, baseline consumer expectations for speed, ease and transparency push financial institutions to adapt or risk being left behind,” PYMNTS wrote.

But the ability to address these demands is in many cases held back by banks’ legacy systems, which can in turn hinder innovation.

“Banks typically have a lot of experience, trust and knowledge, but they lack flexibility and agility,” Moa Agrell, senior banking relations manager at Trustly, said in an interview with PYMNTS, adding that this makes it tougher for them to cope with the changing landscape of payments and financial services.

“Consumers want their information, and that includes their financial information, to be easy to access, easy to use and to be instant while, of course, still remaining safe,” Agrell said.

Against this backdrop, PYMNTS noted, partnerships between traditional banks and FinTech firms are becoming critical to speeding the adoption of open banking solutions and surmounting the challenges that financial institutions face in providing “horizon innovations” to end users.