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Sweden's Trustly acquires HMRC open banking provider Ecospend
Trustly said the purchase of Ecospend represented a "perfect fit" as it looks to grow its presence in the UK, on the back of accelerated adoption of open banking.
Swedish payments firm Trustly has acquired Ecospend, one of the darlings of UK open banking, in a move the CEO of Trustly heralds as a “perfect strategic fit".
The acquisition, for an undisclosed amount, comes as Trustly looks to make a major play in the UK.
This comes on the back of the UK market’s accelerated adoption of open banking, with now over five million users in the UK.
Founded in 2008, Trustly serves over 8,000 merchants, connecting them with 525 million consumers and 6,300 banks in over 30 countries; and in 2021, it said it processed over $28bn in transaction volume.
Last year it shelved plans to go public- set to be one of the biggest by a European fintech in 2021-but postponed plans after regulators raised concerns about its due diligence.
The Swedish payments firm, which was due to list on the Nasdaq Stockholm exchange, said it is still aiming for a stock market listing, but there is currently no firm timeline.
Ecospend, founded in 2017, has made a name for itself by nabbing a plum contract to build HM Revenue and Custom's next-gen payments infrastructure.
Its open banking tech is used across 13 HMRC tax regimes, including self-assessment, PAYE, corporation tax and VAT.
Its other clients include utility and e-commerce platforms and London Mutual Credit Union.
Earlier this year, Ecospend said that nearly £2.5bn worth of transactions have been made in a year through its open banking technology.
Trustly said the UK market presents a “dynamic ecosystem” following new open banks introduced into the market four years ago.
Johan Tjärnberg, group CEO of Trustly, said: “I am delighted to welcome Ecospend to Trustly. This is a perfect strategic fit and I am convinced that it will enable us to deliver a market-leading product in the UK, allowing us to capture opportunities and accelerate our current UK expansion.”
Metin Erkman, founder of Ecospend, said: “Together with Trustly we will be able to further accelerate our expansion in the UK and continue to raise the bar for service excellence to our customers.
“We will continue to leverage our market-leading technology and bank connectivity in the UK and, together with Trustly, broaden our capabilities to stretch across Europe and further markets. We are really excited to join the Trustly family.”
