Mastercard has agreed to acquire Danish open banking technology company Aiia to expand its open banking reach, according to a Tuesday (Sept. 7) press release. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Aiia is among the top banking tech providers in Europe that bridge the connection to banks via a single application programming interface (API), the release stated.
Mastercard Chief Product Officer Craig Vosburg said in the release that open banking frees individuals and businesses to use their data for the benefit of finding appropriate “financial services solutions simply, securely and quickly.”
See also: Insurers Tap Open Banking to Keep Payments Process Seamless
He added Aiia gives Mastercard a backbone to support “our European open banking efforts” while also addressing customers’ needs “where they are.”
“As open banking continues to ignite innovation, we’re committed to providing a unique set of technology platforms, data connectivity and infrastructure combined with data privacy and security principles,” he said in the release. “This will help FinTechs and financial institutions innovate, gather feedback and scale faster and more effectively than ever to power smarter, more meaningful experiences.”
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Open banking is leveling the playing field in financial services by putting customers in control of their data . Consumer-permissioned data gives FinTechs and banks the ability to offer appropriate access to credit, digital wallets, payments services and more, according to the release.
While Mastercard’s role in the ecosystem is as an intermediary and secure data network, Aiia brings an open banking platform powered by API connectivity and payment capacities. Aiia’s open banking model in Europe is guided by data privacy, and its “customer-centric” methods complement Mastercard’s current tactics, tech and data policies, the release stated.
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“For the past decade, we have worked to build Aiia into a leading and quality-driven open banking platform, which has onboarded hundreds of banks and FinTechs onto safe and secure open banking rails,” said Aiia Co-Founder and CEO Rune Mai in the release. “We have worked closely alongside banks, customers and local authorities to ensure that our APIs show the true effect of open banking.”
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