Payward agrees to buy Saldo Bank for EU banking license

Payward, the parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, said on Oct. 14 it signed a definitive agreement to acquire Saldo Bank, a digital-first bank licensed in Lithuania. The deal gives Payward a route to offer bank deposits, loans and payment services across the European Union once regulators approve the purchase.

The target is Saldo Finance Oy, a Finnish holding company whose subsidiary is Saldo Bank UAB. Payward described the structure in its announcement. Unchained reported on Oct. 15 that the company announced the deal on Oct. 14 and plans to buy the holding company outright.

Terms were not disclosed. The announcement says nothing about price, and CoinDesk noted on Oct. 14 that Payward agreed to the purchase for an undisclosed amount. Figures near 180 million dollars in headlines refer to the bank balance sheet, not the deal price.

Saldo Bank held 163.9 million euros in total assets at the end of 2025, up 22.7 percent from a year earlier, according to The Banks data cited by CoinDesk. The release does not give a separate valuation for the transaction. Readers should not read the asset total as the amount Payward agreed to pay.

The bank operates in Lithuania, Finland, Sweden and Germany, and holds a passport into the Netherlands. Payward listed that footprint as four operating markets plus the Dutch passport. Unchained gave the same list in its summary of the deal.

Saldo takes retail term deposits in all four markets. It makes consumer loans in Lithuania, Finland and Sweden, and small business loans in Lithuania and Finland. Its credit card is live in Finland, with Sweden planned for 2027. The bank also runs embedded lending partnerships in Finland and Germany, where other financial technology firms use its lending setup for their own customers.

Payward said it expects to use that base to pay interest on deposits after closing. The announcement lists deposit interest, secured and unsecured small business loans, consumer lending and credit cards among the planned offers. Banking as a service is the third part, with passporting, card issuance, small business lending support, full SEPA payment access and embedded lending for partners building on Payward.

All of those plans depend on approval. The transaction is expected to close in 2027, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals, the release says. CoinDesk put the same condition in its account of the deal. Payward said integration and approval work are already underway.

"We are starting in the EU, and the ambition is global," co-chief executive Arjun Sethi said in the release. He described Payward Banking as a business built license by license and market by market. He called a regulated EU bank the piece that lets the group serve European clients the way a primary financial institution should, in one place to hold assets, move them and put them to work.

Saldo Bank president Jarkko Maensivu said in the same release that a banking license is only as valuable as what gets built on top of it. He said the bank infrastructure was built to run across Europe, including embedded services for other financial firms. The combination, he said, would let more customers reach banking, payments and lending in one place.

Payward framed the purchase as an extension of licenses it already holds. Its banking arm received a limited-purpose Federal Reserve master account in March, and the group holds an electronic money institution license from the Central Bank of Ireland. The release puts originated loans above 2 billion dollars. Unchained repeated those two points while noting the Fed account history.

CoinDesk cited the Financial Times for the claim the deal would make Payward the first cryptocurrency company to buy a European bank. Payward itself did not make a first-ever claim in its release. The FT report sits behind a paywall, so the first-ever label rests on that secondary account rather than on the company statement.

The announcement follows other Payward moves this month. Its newsroom lists a planned United Arab Emirates launch after approval from Dubai virtual asset regulators, plus partnerships tied to stablecoin cards and airport services. Those items are separate from the Saldo transaction and carry their own approvals and dates.

For now the Saldo deal is signed but not closed. Payward has named the buyer, the seller and the expected product set, and has set 2027 as the expected close. The price, the regulators who must sign off and the exact timetable after approval remain undisclosed.