Visa enters $2.15bn deal with Tink after backing $300m blockchain fund with Paypal

Visa has agreed to acquire Tink, a European open banking platform, for 1.8 billion Euros ($2.15 billion), inclusive of cash and retention incentives.

Tink caters to financial institutions, fintechs and merchants. Its single API allows customers to access aggregated financial data, use smart financial services such as risk insights and account verification and build personal finance management tools.

Tink, which will retain its brand and current management team, is integrated with more than 3,400 banks and financial institutions, reaching millions of bank customers across Europe.

Visa is acquiring Tink to combine both firm’s capabilities and 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 and businesses will gain access to a customized range of tools to operate digitally and securely.

Al Kelly, CEO and Chairman of Visa, said: “Visa is committed to doing all we 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.”

Daniel Kjellén, CEO and Co-founder of Tink, commented: “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.

Charlotte Hogg, CEO of Visa Europe, added: “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 European Union mandates that banks enable access to registered third-party providers on behalf of, and with the consent of, their customers.

This has opened the doors to open banking solutions, with Tink being one of the over 440 third party providers across Europe that provides open banking services.

The $2.15 billion deal with Tink comes in the same week Visa backed the $300 million fund Blockchain Capital, Fund V.

Blockchain Capital V will focus its investments on firm in blockchain infrastructure, DeFi, NFTs and emerging applications of blockchain technology.

Since its inception in 2013, Blockchain Capital has invested in 110 companies, protocols and crypto assets across the ecosystem, building up a portfolio that includes big names such as Coinbase, Kraken, Anchorage and OpenSea.