Tink
Tink is an open banking technology provider within Visa that connects businesses to bank accounts through software interfaces. Tink provides tools for initiating bank payments and accessing account data with the account holder's permission. Open banking lets account holders authorize a service to use bank data or initiate a payment on their behalf.
Lenders can use bank data to assess income and affordability, while merchants can offer payment directly from an account. Tink combines connections and customer authentication flows in one integration, so businesses do not maintain a separate connection to every supported bank. Open banking in Germany explains the bank access and permissions behind these services.
Visa's European open banking platform
Tink provides a European open banking platform connecting businesses with banks. The company was founded in 2012, became part of Visa in 2022 and is wholly owned by Visa, with its main office in Stockholm (Tink). Tink names connections to all major banks in Europe across 19 markets.
Tink's open banking products
Tink lists Pay by Bank for payments straight from the account, Sweeping VRP for moving money between a customer's own accounts in the UK, Account Check for verifying who owns an account, and Data Enrichment for sorting transactions into categories. Lenders and merchants use the same API to read account data or start a payment once the customer has agreed. Payment initiation services explains the license behind a payment, and open banking in Germany the use of account data in the German market.
From PSD2 access to the SPAA scheme
PSD2 obliges banks to give licensed providers access to payment accounts, but sets no price and no service beyond the basics. The SEPA Payment Account Access scheme of the European Payments Council adds a contract between banks and providers for services beyond the PSD2 minimum. Tink summarized the first rulebook on publication: one-off, future-dated and recurring payments, plus richer account data (Tink). The SPAA scheme covers the rulebook, and PSD3 and the PSR the next set of access rules.
Variable recurring payments
In the UK, variable recurring payments let a provider start payments within limits the customer sets once, for example to top up a savings account. Sweeping between a customer's own accounts is the regulated use case, and Tink offers it as Sweeping VRP. Tink has written on what VRPs can and cannot do (Tink). Variable recurring payments compares the UK model with the plans in the euro area.
Upcoming payments events in Europe
Payments & Digital Money
Risk & Compliance
Who owns Tink?
Visa. Tink became part of Visa in 2022 and is wholly owned by it. Visa in stablecoins, AI payments and card tokens describes Visa's other work in payments.
What is Tink Pay by Bank?
Pay by Bank is Tink's payment initiation product: the customer pays from the bank account, confirms the payment with the bank, and the money moves as a bank transfer, without a card.
In how many markets is Tink active?
Tink gives 19 European markets and connections to all major European banks.
Open banking and account data
Tink and Finance Loop
Finance Loop covers open banking and account data in its Payments & Digital Money track.
Finance Loop helps business development teams discuss partnerships around account data and bank payments with financial professionals across Europe. A company can request a relevant expert exchange by specifying the data or payment use case and the bank or fintech roles needed.
Finance Loop is a professional network supporting the institutional use of emerging technologies in finance, such as AI, digital payments, cloud and blockchain solutions. Finance Loop helps its members build skills and personal networks in these fields: Investment & Digital Assets, Payments & Digital Money, Digital Infrastructure & Sovereignty, and Risk & Compliance.