June 25, 2021: -On Thursday, Visa agreed to acquire Swedish financial technology startup Tink for 1.8 billion euros in a deal to aim at bolstering the payment giant’s digital ambitions.

The deal comes after a bid of Visa to buy Plaid, an American rival to Tink, torpedoed by regulators of the U.S. Plaid has since opted to go it alone as an independent company and was privately valued by investors $13.4 billion in recent times.

Both Plaid and Tink operate in a nascent space called opening banking, which calls on lenders to provide third-party firms with access to coveted consumer banking data, which provided that they have consent. Open banks have flourished in Britain and the EU thanks to the new regulation.

“Visa is committed to doing all we can to foster innovation and empower consumers in support of open banking goals of Europe,” Al Kelly, CEO of Visa, said.

“By bringing together a network of networks and Tink’s open banking capabilities of Visa, we will deliver raise value to European consumers and businesses with tools to make their financial lives above simple, reliable, and secure.”

Founded by Swedish entrepreneurs Daniel Kjellén and Fredrik Hedberg in the year 2012, Tink initially started as a financial management app. Still, it later pivoted to focus on providing its technology to other businesses instead.

The startup was founded in Stockholm in the year 2012, and it has about 400 employees, with technology that connects to over 3,400 banks that reach over 250 million bank customers all over Europe.

Tink’s technology lets banks and fintech firms connect with more than 3,400 lenders to create new financial products. The company based in Stockholm was last valued at 680 million euros privately. It has increased over $300 million from investors, which include PayPal, SEB, and ABN AMRO.

“As we got to know Visa, it was clear that we share a common mission to connect the financial world and accelerate the growth and adoption of digital financial services,” Founders of Tink said in a blog post-Thursday.

“Teaming up with Visa means we’ll be able to move faster and reach further than ever before, and we know that Visa is the partner for the next stage of our journey.”

Visa’s acquisition of Tink is recent in a wave of consolidation efforts in the massive payments industry. Last year, the company tried purchasing Plaid but abandoned the takeover after the U.S. Department of Justice sued to block it on antitrust grounds ultimately.

The deal with Tink is subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions. However, Visa said adding it will be financed solely with cash and won’t impact its stock buyback or dividend policy.

Tink will keep the branding and management team after the deal, Visa said, while the company’s headquarters will also remain in Stockholm.