Trustly closes acquisition of Ecospend - becoming the leading Open Banking payments company in the UK

STOCKHOLM, Jan. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Trustly, the global payments platform for digital account-to-account (A2A) transactions today announces the closing of the acquisition of UK-based Open Banking payments platform Ecospend, following FCA approval. Trustly and Ecospend together become the leading Open Banking payments company in the UK, featuring connectivity with over 80 banks and a consumer reach of approximately 50 million consumers.

The UK is one of Europe's most rapidly growing A2A markets and a core growth market for Trustly. Ecospend's strong UK Payment Initiation Services and Data Services, such as affordability and identity verification solutions, coupled with full UK bank connectivity, make it a strategic fit with Trustly's collection capabilities and cross-border reach. The combined entity is well-positioned to deliver a compelling product in the UK, accelerating its expansion in the market, as well as in the rest of Europe. 

Together, Trustly and Ecospend capabilities will feature: 

• Market leading bank connectivity with +80 banks in the UK
• Extensive consumer reach with +50 million consumers in the UK
• Strong payments volume of over £7.5 bn in the UK for 2022

Many of Trustly's UK customers are already benefiting from the partnership and the use of Ecospend's Open Banking technology solutions. 

"We are very excited that we have now officially closed the acquisition. This is an important milestone and is fully in line with Trustly's ambitious target to be the game-changing market leader in the UK. We can't wait to continue our expansion journey as a collective team, bringing best-in-class Open Banking solutions to both consumers and merchants'', Johan Tjärnberg, Group CEO of Trustly, comments.

Ecospend, founded in 2017, is an FCA regulated pay-by-bank payments provider powering the next generation of payments and financial data services. Ecospend serves clients in a range of industries. The company holds a key contract with the tax authority of the UK government, HMRC.

"The UK is the largest digital payments market in Europe and represents a huge opportunity for us. We have seen an incredible appetite from both consumers and businesses to embrace Open Banking and the simple and secure payments that it enables. Trustly and Ecospend will be able to excel in this space with the most comprehensive and compelling solution on the market", says James Hickman, Chief Commercial Officer at Ecospend.

For more information, please contact:

Linnéa Nichols-Eriksson, Communication Manager 
+46 (0)70 261 26 93, leriksson@brunswickgroup.com

About Trustly

Founded in 2008, Trustly is a global leader in Online Banking Payments. Our digital account-to-account platform redefines the speed, simplicity and security of payments, linking some of the world's most prominent merchants with consumers directly from their online banking accounts. Trustly can handle the entire payment journey, setting us apart from the competition and enabling us to offer an attractive alternative to the traditional card networks at a lower cost. Today we serve 8,100 merchants, connecting them with 525 million consumers and 6,300 banks in over 30 countries; and in 2021 we processed over $28 billion in transaction volume in our global network. 

We are a licensed Payment Institution under the second payment services directive (PSD2) and operate under the supervision of the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority in Europe. In the US, we are state regulated as required to serve our target markets. Read more at www.trustly.com.

About Ecospend

Founded in 2017, Ecospend is an Open Finance technology platform provider. In 2020, Ecospend won one of the largest ever Open Banking contracts, with HMRC. Ecospend's client portfolio includes, in addition to the UK Government, several bluechip private sector clients such as ITV, Toolstation, Anglian Water and London Mutual Credit Union. 

Its proprietary technology underpins a product portfolio which is divided into two core areas: payments (pay-by-bank) services and data services such as affordability and identity verification solutions. Ecospend is authorised by the FCA for payments (PISP) and data (AISP) and has full API bank connectivity within the UK. The business is headquartered in London, UK.

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