Visa is set to acquire Swedish FinTech Tink in a €1.8 billion deal, which mixes cash and retention incentives.

Tink, founded 2012, provides an Open Banking platform that enables financial institutions, FinTechs, and merchants to build financial management tools, products and services for European consumers, and businesses based on their financial data.

The FinTech has 350 employees and 13 offices, and is live across Europe, Sweden, UK, France, Spain, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Belgium, Austria, and the Netherlands.

Visa said Tink will retain its brand and current management team, and its headquarters will remain in Stockholm, Sweden.

Tink claims it is integrated with more than 3,400 banks and financial institutions, reaching millions of bank customers across Europe.

The move comes after the Tink raised €85 million of additional funding in December 2020, in round led by European fund manager Eurazeo Growth.

In November 2020, Visa’s $5.3 billion attempt to buy rival payments company Plaid was blocked by regulators on antitrust concerns.

Tink has also been active in the acquisitions space; in May it continued its European expansion with the buyout of German Open Banking company FinTecSystems.

“Visa is committed to doing all we can to foster innovation and empower consumers in support of Europe’s Open Banking goals,” said Al Kelly, chief executive and chairman of Visa. “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.”

“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,” said Daniel Kjellén, chief executive and co-founder of Tink.

“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.”
He added: “Visa is the perfect partner for the next stage of Tink's journey, and we a
re incredibly excited about what this will bring to our employees, customers and for the future of financial services.”

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