Visa boss: We didn’t overpay for Tink

Before 2022’s market turmoil came 2021’s bullish boom. Nowhere was this more apparent, apart from cryptocurrencies, was the fintech space where valuations and funding soared and big ticket deals began to occur. 

One of the most high profile fintech acquisitions in 2021 was when payments giant Visa showed how seriously it was taking the open banking trend when it nabbed Tink for €1.8bn.

Given the pressure on valuations less than a year later, did Visa ‘overpay’ in what will come to be known as the ultimate top of the market transaction? 

A categorial ‘no’, according to Visa Europe’s CEO Charlotte Hogg (pictured) speaking at the Money2020 conference in Amsterdam yesterday.

“I'm honestly ecstatic about the deal. The journey towards open banking in Europe has been happening for a while, but it's really happening now. And if you believe that financial services can be better, more digital, and consumers for the first time can be at the heart of their financial data,” Hogg said.

Could Visa have perhaps paid a lower price?

“We bought the best asset? So no,” she added.

Tink was founded in 2012. Previous to the deal its last valuation was at about €680m at the end of 2020 when it raised €800m.

Hogg says Visa is primarily concerned with “creating networks for others to innovate on” so that financial capabilities and use cases can be created.

“Tink is actually very similar Tink are all about innovation and creating the capabilities to create tonnes of new use cases,” Hogg said.

"If you want to get access to be able to sell as a small business. Suddenly, you can do that so much faster. If you want to borrow, you can do it quicker. That's very similar to what we do. And they've never compromised on safety and security. That's something we very much have in common," she added.