Mastercard has agreed to acquire European company Aiia, according to a a report by Business Wire.
Aiia is known for having brought a unique model of open banking to the European market that allows users to connect directly to banks through one Application Programming Interface, which allows users to develop and launch new digital solutions.
“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," Craig Vosburg, chief product officer of Mastercard, said. "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. This will help fintechs and financial institutions innovate, gather feedback and scale faster and more effectively than ever to power smarter, more meaningful experiences.”
Mastercard customers will now be able to use Aiia technologies in the same manner that current Aiia users have been using the open banking system.
“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. We have worked closely alongside banks, customers and local authorities to ensure that our APIs show the true effect of open banking. We’re excited to become a part of Mastercard and progress our journey of empowering people to bring their financial data and accounts into play - safely and transparently,” Rune Mai, CEO and founder of Aiia, said.
The purchase is projected to be closed by the end of the year.