Payward Moves to Gain EU Bank License via Saldo Purchase

Payward, parent to crypto platform Kraken, entered a binding agreement to purchase Saldo Finance Oy and its Lithuanian unit Saldo Bank UAB.

Deal delivers banking license and multi-country reach. The purchase supplies an EU banking authorization and presence in Lithuania, Finland, Sweden, Germany plus passport rights into the Netherlands. Financial details stayed undisclosed.

Completion remains slated for 2027 pending regulatory sign-off.

Post-close product expansion targeted. Payward Banking intends to introduce deposit interest, loans for small businesses and consumers, credit cards plus banking-as-a-service features such as card issuance, SEPA access and embedded lending options. Saldo already supplies term deposits across its four active markets, consumer loans in Lithuania, Finland and Sweden, and a credit card limited to Finland.

Existing licenses and lending history noted. Payward maintains a limited-purpose master account with the Federal Reserve in the United States, an e-money license from Ireland’s central bank, and reports more than $2 billion in originated loans to date.

Co-CEO describes regional approach. “A regulated EU bank is the piece that lets us serve European clients the way a primary financial institution should: one place to hold assets, move them freely, and put them to work,” said Arjun Sethi, Payward’s co-CEO. “We are starting in the EU, and the ambition is global.”

Broader expansion steps continue. The transaction follows this week’s announcement of a planned UAE launch after Dubai’s Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority granted full approval. In September Bloomberg reported Nasdaq Inc. investing $100 million in Payward at a $21 billion valuation.