Mastercard has agreed to buy Danish open banking technology outfit Aiia. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Aiia provides a direct connection through a single API to more than 2700 banks across Europe to its bank, fintech and payment firm clients. Mastercard stresses that Aiia has "expertise in providing safe and secure data access" that aligns with its own "data responsibility principles".
The deal compliments Mastercard's acquisition, last year, of American open banking player Finicity.
Specifically, the connectivity of Aiia in Europe will enable Mastercard to deliver the credit decisioning and credit scoring applications of Finicity to European clients. Meanwhile, the connectivity of Finicity in the US will help deliver the account information services and payment applications of Aiia to American clients.
Craig Vosburg, chief product officer, Mastercard, says: “The value of open banking comes through empowering consumers and businesses to use their own data to obtain financial services solutions simply, securely and quickly. The addition of Aiia anchors our European open banking efforts and allows us to continue to meet our customers 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."