Both Kjellén and Hedberg had cut their teeth in the investment banking space . Hedberg had also previously built a large technology business and had experience working for a hedge fund in San Francisco .
“ We had the edge and keen interest in both technology and finance . We realised personal finance and the payment industry were still very much under the control of large traditional , universal banks . We wanted to be entrepreneurs again , and were looking for a place open to disruption where we could have a meaningful impact ,” Kjellén says .
TINK WAS LAUNCHED IN 2012 Since then , the company has transformed in size and offerings . Initially , Tink tackled the missing pieces in retail banking and the unfulfilled needs of consumers . But both co-founders knew the industry was becoming increasingly data-driven , so turned their attention to technology , creating the building blocks of future banking with unified APIs that aggregated data , accessed accounts , and handled payments .
A PARTNERSHIP WITH VISA There were also many offers of collaboration but until recently , the co-founders held off . However , in 2022 , Tink was acquired by Visa for US $ 1.75bn and has since skyrocketed .
“ We ' ve been through ups and downs over these 10 years . We ' ve had a few people come knocking on our doors wanting to make acquisitions or similar .
He continues : “ We ' ve always evaluated this through the same lens : ' is this going to increase the likelihood of us winning and bringing open banking globally ?' And the answer previously was , no . With the Visa deal , that was different . Why ? Because they believed a lot in this company and wanted to keep it independent , but also gave us the muscles and trustworthiness and the network that Visa has globally . I think that ' s exactly what we got .”
Kjellén adds : “ We still operate as a small , nimble company . But we can take a long-term approach . We spend a lot less time trying to explain who we are , that we can be trusted , that we are going to be around 10 years from now . Instead people realise , ' well , you ' re part of Visa ' and we can tick the box . Now , we can focus on what can we do together . I think that it ' s an amazing opportunity .”
Tink is connected to more than 3,400 + banks
Tink was acquired by Visa for US $ 1.75bn
Tink banking reaches 250 + million customers