Visa today announced it has completed its acquisition of Tink – an open banking platform that enables financial institutions, fintechs and merchants to build financial products and services and move money. Through a single API, Tink enables its customers to move money, access aggregated financial data, and use smart financial services such as risk insights and account verification. Tink is integrated with more than 3,400 banks and financial institutions, reaching millions of bank customers across Europe.

With the transaction complete, the combination of Visa and Tink is expected to enable clients to deliver substantial benefits for consumers to better control their financial experiences, including managing their money, financial data and financial goals. Businesses large and small will also have access to a greater and more customized range of tools to operate digitally and securely, whether initiating payments, reconciling bank statements and accounts or enabling alternative financing.

“Digital tools are driving the new economy, and the combination of Visa and Tink will support greater choice and quality of digital money services as the lines between commerce, financial services and payments continue to converge,” said Charlotte Hogg, CEO of Visa Europe.

Jack Forestell, Chief Product Officer of Visa, added, “Openness and innovation are the two vital elements necessary to fuel the growth of future digital financial services. The combination of Visa’s proven infrastructure and sustained investment in resilience, cybersecurity and fraud prevention with Tink’s APIs, technology and customer relationships will help accelerate the adoption of open banking around the world by providing a secure, reliable platform for innovation.”

“Global networks enable innovators to scale, and Visa provides the best foundation for Tink to build on,” said Daniel Kjellén, CEO and co-founder of Tink. “Visa will help Tink increase its connectivity to more than 15,000 financial institutions, utilizing Visa’s consumer trust and brand recognition to develop the future of financial services, that we can together offer to clients throughout Europe, and around the globe.”

In the near-term, Tink will operate as a standalone subsidiary of Visa. Tink CEO and Co-founder Daniel Kjellén and the existing management team will continue to lead the organization.