Kraken Parent Payward to Acquire Saldo Bank Owner

Payward, the parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, has agreed to acquire Saldo Finance Oy, the Finnish holding company behind Lithuania-licensed Saldo Bank UAB, in a push into regulated European banking. The definitive agreement was announced on 14 October 2026. Financial terms were not disclosed. The transaction is expected to close in 2027, subject to customary conditions including regulatory approvals, meaning no approval has been secured yet.

Saldo Bank is a digital-first lender holding a specialised bank licence, a narrower authorisation than a full banking licence. A 2023 Saldo release said the licence allows deposits, loans and transfers but not investment services. Saldo says the bank is licensed by the European Central Bank and regulated by the Bank of Lithuania. Payward said the bank serves customers in Lithuania, Finland, Sweden and Germany and holds a passport for the Netherlands, which lets a firm authorised in one EU state offer services in others without separate licences. Retail term deposits are offered in every market. Consumer loans are available in Lithuania, Finland and Sweden, while secured and unsecured loans to small and medium-sized businesses are offered in Lithuania and Finland. The bank has full access to SEPA, the euro payments network, and lends to fintechs in Finland and Germany through embedded products. Its card is live in Finland, with a Swedish launch expected in 2027.

What Payward gains

Payward said the purchase should allow Payward Banking to offer European clients interest on deposits, lending products and banking-as-a-service — outsourcing functions such as passporting, card issuance and SME lending to other firms. All of that remains subject to regulatory approvals.

Arjun Sethi, Co-CEO of Payward, said 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." Jarkko Mäensivu, President of Saldo Bank, said: "A banking license is only as valuable as what you build on top of it."

Wider build-out

Payward said Payward Banking has originated more than $2 billion in loans. It also holds a Federal Reserve limited-purpose master account, giving direct access to the US central bank's payment system, and an electronic money institution licence from the Central Bank of Ireland, which allows it to issue e-money and provide payments. Payward's newsroom lists a 12 October 2026 release headlined "Kraken Plans UAE Launch, Following Full Market Approval from VARA in Dubai." VARA is Dubai's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority.

Brokers, payment firms and exchanges that bank with or compete against crypto-platform groups should note that a Kraken-owned EU bank could, if approved, offer deposit interest, lending and banking-as-a-service to EU firms and clients. Operators should follow the approval process through 2027 and review their own EU banking and safeguarding-account dependencies and competitive positioning.