Visa to buy Swedish open banking startup Tink for $2B

Five months after U.S. regulators scuttled Visa’s Plaid acquisition, the payments giant announced it’s planning to acquire open banking startup Tink, which was established in 2012. Like Plaid, Tink’s tools allow banks and third-party fintechs to connect to account data through an API to allow for new financial services solutions.

Why should we care?
The data-aggregation market, in the context of heightened digital financial services behavior, is a hot field. Through an API, Tink allows its customers to access aggregated financial data, initiate payments, enrich transactions, verify account ownership, and build personal finance management tools. Visa, the world’s largest card network, will likely use the acquisition to gain a stronger foothold in European markets, as Tink connects to more than 3,400 banks that reach over 250 million bank customers. In its commentary, Tink appeared to reinforce Visa’s “network of networks” approach to financial services: “As we got to know Visa, it became clear that we share a common mission – to connect the financial world and accelerate the growth and adoption of digital financial services,” the company said in a blog post. The deal is subject to regulatory approvals and other closing conditions.