Many services have consolidated a presence online and into the cloud in order to enable businesses and individuals to get things done. More than anywhere else, this has been relevant to the world of finance with banks, bank competitors, and their tech partners clamoring to meet demand for more flexible and digital channels. One company staying ahead of this curve is Stockholm-based and PayPal-backed Tink, who recently surged in valuation after a successful funding round confirming a year of positive steps forward.
The start-up known for aggregating numerous banks and financial services by way of an API, recently announced that it raised the equivalent of $103 million in its latest funding round resulting in a new valuation of approximately $825 million. Close to unicorn status, the company will be utilizing the capital to zero in on expanding its network of banking and payments services in Europe.
Since its founding, Tink now connects with over 3,400 banks catering to around 250 million people worldwide. The company’s partners include PayPal, NatWest, ABN, AMRO, BNP Paribas, Nordea, and SEB. Some of these companies are also strategic investors. In total, there are 8,000 developers utilizing its APIs. Tink’s business is based around payment initiation technology, providing easy integrations into existing banking services, and subsequently collecting a commission on transactions that then take place. The company shared in a statement that it currently processes around 1 million payment transactions per month in five markets.
This comes as open banking platforms are now lined through APIs as an emerging trend in finance. Elaborating on this, Daniel Kjellen, Co-Founder and CEO of Tink said, “2020 has seen payments powered by open banking take-off, and in 2021 we expect to see this scale – most prominently in the U.K., followed by Europe. This funding extension will further facilitate the development of our payment initiation services across Europe, while continuing to deliver new data-products built on open banking technology to our customers.”
Indeed, other major fintechs such as Unit and Plaid are confirming this trend with major funding rounds and acquisitions announced within a short time frame. As if to follow the trend of the growth, Tink will be funnelling the funds to expand its partnerships and footprint while also harnessing inorganic growth.
