Tink

Tink Secures Strategic Investment from PayPal

By David Penn Posted on

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PayPal has joined Team Tink.

Swedish open banking solution provider Tink announced today that PayPal is its latest investor and customer. In a blog post sharing the news, the Swedish company called the investment and partnership a “major vote of confidence in our tech and an indicator of the strength of the open banking movement in Europe.”

Today’s investment from PayPal adds $11.2 million (€10 million) to Tink’s capital, boosting the fintech’s funding total to more than $105 million. As Tink’s newest partner, the payments giant plans to leverage Tink’s account aggregation technology to enable its European customers to connect their bank accounts to their PayPal accounts.

“It’s a testament to the versatility of our technology,” the company wrote on its blog on Tuesday, “it can be implemented to improve a range of use cases for businesses big and small.”

Offering account aggregation and payment initiation services via a single, API integration – as well as data enrichment and categorization and PFM services – Tink empowers fintechs to maximize the opportunities of open banking. More than 1,400 developers are using Tink’s API platform to access financial data from hundreds of banks and financial institutions in markets across Europe. This access is paving the way for what the company called “the next generation of financial services.”

VP of global markets and partnerships for PayPal, Jennifer Marriner echoed Tink’s enthusiasm for the transformative potential of open banking. “Tink has developed the infrastructure and data services for this new financial world – and we’re excited to work together to continue to democratize financial services,” she said.

Today’s funding will help drive Tink’s continued expansion across Europe. In recent months, the fintech has partnered with NatWest in the U.K., Mash in Finland, and Lunar Way in Denmark. The company began the year with both a big funding – picking up $63 million (€56 million) in a round led by Insight Venture Partners – and a big expansion, going live in five new European markets. Tink demonstrated its API platform at FinovateEurope earlier this year. Founded in 2012, the company has 150 employees and 500,000 users of its PFM app.

PayPal and Braintree presented Making Payments Fun at our developers conference, FinDEVr Silicon Valley, in 2014. PayPal also demonstrated its Instant Account Creation solution at FinovateEurope 2012. Trading on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol PYPL, PayPal has a market capitalization of $127 billion. The San Jose, California-based company was founded in 1998.

Finovate Alumni News

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On Finovate.com

  • Tink Secures Strategic Investment from PayPal.
  • InComm Buys Hallmark Cards Subsidiary.

Around the web

  • ACI Worldwide makes strategic investment in Indian digital payments company Mindgate Solutions.
  • Currencycloud and VISA forge partnership to fuel innovation in cross-border and travel payments.
  • Trulioo partners with Refinitiv to improve access to digital identity solutions.
  • German open digital identity scheme yes.com to integrate into Signicat’s Digital Identity Platform.
  • Splitit appoints former Intuit and PayPal Exec to lead North American operations.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on

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On Finovate.com

  • Q2 and ALTR Leverage the Blockchain to Boost Data Security.
  • Neustar Helps TELUS Fight Caller ID Spoofing.
  • Fintech OS Raises $1.2 Million.
  • Personetics Unveils AI-Enabled Small Banking Solution.
  • SparkPost Launches Predictive Email Intelligence Platform.

Around the web

  • Meniga opens an office in Barcelona, Spain.
  • Coinbase extends support for USD Coin (USDC) trading in 85 countries.
  • Finastra hires Mark Miller as new Chief Financial Officer.
  • Fenergo announces API integration with global financial markets data provider Refinitiv.
  • Hastings Direct extends deal with Equifax by signing a multi-year deal.
  • SDC and Tink partner to give 120 Nordic banks access to account aggregation and payment initiation services.
  • Kony Quantum powers Qualifacts’ new CareLogic mobile app.
  • WireBarley partners with Currencycloud to boost its operations in the U.S.
  • Lendio named to Fortune’s Best Workplaces in Financial Services & Insurance.
  • BlueVine taps Herman Man as new Chief Product Officer.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

Tink Teams Up with NatWest

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on

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For its first partnership in the U.K., Swedish open banking startup Tink inked a deal this week with major U.K. bank NatWest.

NatWest will integrate Tink’s PFM capabilities and Data Enrichment offering, a tool that cleans and syncs data to categorize transactions for data-driven sales and decision-making optimization. These two enhancements will offer NatWest consumers better insight into their personal spending habits.

NatWest, which joins Tink’s other bank customers BNP Paribas Fortis, Nordea, ABN Amro, SEB, and Klarna, will offer the new PFM capabilities to customers starting in the fourth quarter of this year.

“The partnership with NatWest is a great testament to the quality of our technology — and to the dedication to improve the digital offering and customer experience,” said Tink co-founder and CEO Daniel Kjellen. “We believe there are massive opportunities for those who choose to leverage new technology to build greater engagement with their customers. This partnership is proof of just that.”

In addition to its PFM and Data Enrichment products, Tink also offers Account Aggregation, which connects to 2,500+ banks and is live in 10 markets, with coverage across Europe coming by the end of this year. The company also offers Payment Initiation, which allows customers to make payments from a bank’s website or mobile app. In addition to money transfers, Payment Initiation allows customers to transact online and pay bills and invoices.

Tink’s Senior Business Manager, Rudolf Bergslycka and Developer David Frenkel demo the Tink API at FinovateEurope 2019

Founded in 2012, Tink counts more than 500,000 app users and has 150 employees across two offices. The two-time Best of Show-winning company most recently demoed at FinovateEurope 2019 in London.

Finovate Alumni News

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on

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On Finovate.com

  • Twisto Closes $15.7 Million Capital Raise.
  • FinovateSpring Best of Show Winners Announced.
  • Welcome to FinovateSpring’s Conference Day.

Around the web

  • ID.me launches discounts for new affinity groups: nurses, age segments, and alumni.
  • TechCrunch: SoFi launches Gig-focused ETF.
  • Ayondo inks deal to sell UK unit for £5.7m.
  • Cornèr and NDGIT partner to provide direct access to third-party service providers under PSD2 regulation.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

Tink Teams Up with Mash

By David Penn Posted on

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Finland-based Mash will leverage account aggregation technology from fellow Nordic fintech Tink as part of an initiative to enhance the customer experience and offer new services. The company plans to use Tink to improve the onboarding process for new users as well as provide more control and insight into their financial accounts.

Calling Tink a “perfect match,” Mash CEO James Hickson praised Tink’s “pan-European connectivity” and work in Finland in support of the new partnership. “The quality of the aggregated data that Tink can access makes them a reliable source which will enable us to deliver a better service to our customers by making more informed decisions,” Hickson said.

Founded in 2007, Mash leverages proprietary algorithms, machine learning, and automation to provide consumer lending and payments solutions to thousands of customers a day. With offices in Finland, Sweden, Poland, Luxembourg, and Spain, the company has raised more than $153 million in funding (€138m).

“Mash is one of our partners who chooses to leverage the opportunities brought about by open banking to become more data-driven and deliver a better customer service,” Tink CEO and co-founder Daniel Kjellén said. He added that creating a win-win proposition for both Mash and its customers is “exactly what open banking is all about.”

With a single API integration, Tink offers cloud-based account aggregation (AIS) and payment initiation (PIS) services to help financial services companies bring new solutions to their customers. Tink provides data enrichment and categorization to ensure accuracy of user financial information, and offerings such as the its Tink Link SDK give companies an easy way to create a bank- and market-agnostic “one user authentication journey.”

Tink demonstrated its API platform at FinovateEurope 2018. Founded in 2012 and headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, the company announced a partnership with Danish fintech Lunar Way in March, supporting payment initiation and PFM for Lunar Way’s mobile app. In February, Tink made even bigger fintech headlines, raking in $63 million (€56m) in new funding and going live in five new markets in Europe.

We featured Tink in our recent look at how banks can compete with Apple’s new credit card.

Finovate Alumni News

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on

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On Finovate.com

  • Equifax Buys PayNet for Commercial Lending Data.

Around the web

  • Ron Shevlin looks at the effects PayActiv’s technology has on the paycheck industry.
  • Thrive Global interviews Lynne Laube, COO and co-founder of Cardlytics.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

Yes, Banks Can Compete with Apple’s New Credit Card

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on

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What’s in your wallet? Or rather, what’s in banks’ clients’ wallets? Some sexy competition appeared on the market yesterday, as Apple announced the pending launch of its own credit card in collaboration with Goldman Sachs and Mastercard.

The card is touted more for its mobile and digital qualities than its shiny titanium finish. Despite the shine, however, many of the card’s features and offerings aren’t new. And that’s good news for banks. While traditional financial institutions aren’t as sexy as tech companies such as Apple, they are generally viewed as more trustworthy. And with that kind of foundation, all banks need to do is piece together the features into their own credit card offering and market it properly.

Fortunately, there are plenty of fintech firms out there to help. Here are some of the features Apple is promoting and a list of corresponding fintechs that can help banks take the same approach.

Physical card security

Apple boasts a titanium card with the customer’s name etched on the front– no credit card number, no cvv code, no expiration date. All of that information is tucked away inside the app. Physical card innovator Dynamics takes a similar (though admittedly less visually appealing) approach. The Pennsylvania-based company offers a computer-in-a-card that hides part of the card number, the cvv code, and expiration date on the physical card until the consumer enters their PIN into the card. As an added bonus, Dynamics also offers in-card loyalty and rewards features, as well as a card that hosts multiple numbers, allowing customers to toggle between debit and credit cards.

Chat functionality

As a company that is known for simplifying technology, Apple is taking a similar approach with its customer service. “Have a question? Just text,” is the message the company features on its card website. Fortunately, there are plenty of fintechs that help banks simplify their customer experience. Two such companies are Finn.ai and Clinc, both of which leverage AI to save banks money on customer service representatives, while simplifying and expediting access to answers via a chat interface.

PFM

One way to win over customers is to convince them you’ll help them organize their finances and ultimately save them money. That’s why Apple is offering in-app PFM capabilities. And while the technology hasn’t changed much since it debuted before the fintech craze, the colorful user interface is beautiful enough to convince anyone to want to look at their spending behavior.

Banks have seemingly endless options to compete with this feature. And while most financial institutions currently offer some sort of PFM capabilities, it’s worth looking at it from a superficial point of view. Utah-based MX and Sweden-based Tink both offer visually-pleasing interfaces that are arguably more beautiful than Apple’s and are backed by powerful PFM engines.

Mobile app security

Apple’s iPhone holds the hardware for both fingerprint and facial recognition technology, and since the company is reinforcing its focus on security, it is leveraging biometrics for account access. With the right software, banks can leverage fingerprint and facial recognition technology as well. Jumio, IDology, and Mitek all offer technology banks can implement for fast account access, as well as account onboarding.

Fast onboarding

With access to consumer data, Apple has an advantage of being able to quickly onboard new consumers using existing consumer information. There are multiple fintechs that help banks onboard consumers quickly, as well, including Digital Onboarding, Q2’s Gro Solutions, and Fenergo. Digital Onboarding motivates customers to open new accounts using incentives and gamification. Gro Solutions touts the ability for customers to open and fund accounts in under four minutes. And Fenergo takes a holistic approach to onboarding, providing banks a lifetime view of the client to help perform data refreshes, ongoing due diligence, and upsell and cross-sell opportunities.

Rewards

Credit card rewards programs may seem like a feature of the past, but rewards are certainly still relevant. With its new card’s rewards program, Apple once again seeks to simplify things by offering consumers daily rewards. Two fintechs, Cardlytics and Cartera Commerce, offer tried and true loyalty and rewards programs. These offerings not only boost consumer loyalty, they also offer banks further insight and analysis into consumer spending.

Apple’s new credit card is shipping this summer. Fortunately for banks, fintechs are here to help them compete.

Finovate Alumni News

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on

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On Finovate.com

  • eToro Buys Blockchain Company Firmo.

Around the web

  • ING Belgium and ING Netherlands invite Minna Technologies to participate in the ING FinTech Village accelerator.
  • Tink delivers split transactions feature.
  • Pitchbook ranks OurCrowd as most active Israeli VC firm in terms of the number of deals.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

Tink To Support Payment Initiation, PFM for Lunar Way

By David Penn Posted on

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Danish fintech Lunar Way has partnered with Swedish fintech Tink to use the latter’s API platform to provide customers with an overview of their finances and initiate payments through the Lunar Way app, reports Henry Vilar of Fintech Futures (Finovate’s sister publication).

At the end of last year, Lunar received an account information service provider (AISP) license and a payment initiation service provider (PISP) license, the first fintech company in Denmark to do so.

These licenses commit banks to allow companies like Lunar Way to build new financial services on top of their data and infrastructure for the benefit of the users.

The partnership with Tink is aimed at accelerating this process, the firm says, making the most of its new licenses.

Lunar Way says that Tink’s entrepreneurial mindset and approach to the financial market are much like its own, which motivated the partnership.

Just under a month ago, Lunar Way received €13 million in funding to expand throughout the Nordics.

A few days before that, Tink was the one receiving a whopping €56 million to establish itself in Europe.

Tink demonstrated its technology at FinovateEurope 2017, winning Best of Show honors for its independent, consumer PFM app that gives users a PSD2-compliant, virtual banking experience. Founded in 2012, the company is led by CEO and co-founder Daniel Kjellén.