[FH]: How did Tink start? What motivated you to create Tink?
[RF]: From the start, our founders Daniel Kjellén (CEO) and Fredrik Hedberg (CTO) set out to transform the world of finance and change the banking industry for the better. They knew that by opening up access to financial data, and helping our customers to go from analogue to digital, Tink could help reshape the future of finance. Through our technology platform, we set out to help financial institutions make seamless low-cost payments and build better financial services for their customers. This ambition remains at the heart of everything we do.
[FH]: What are the core values of Tink?
[RF]: We are a company of developers and engineers – it’s in our DNA to imagine, build and iterate. We were founded with a vision of transforming an industry that lacked competition and momentum. And we have built a company of passionate over-achievers who believe there is always a better way of doing things. People from all over Europe – and the world – have joined us in our mission to build the biggest and best open banking platform in Europe. No one can change an industry alone. Our culture is driven by being trusted to do good work, while having each other’s backs. We’re all working towards the same common goal. If someone decides to take on a new challenge, people will pitch in to help them achieve the best results.
[FH]: What advice would you give to someone wanting to work in Tink?
[RF]: When doing something no one else has done before, which is what open banking is doing in financial services, you need the strongest capability in the industry. We believe in hiring and developing talented people who really like what they do, and who continuously strive to get better at their day-to-day job. Being comfortable in our market position is not who we are. We need to continue to innovate, challenge and move forward, and we need the best talent to do that.
[FH]: Congrats on your acquisition by Visa! What should we expect from now on?
[RF]: Visa provides the best foundation for Tink to build on to help us increase our connectivity while utilising Visa’s consumer trust and brand recognition. This will develop the future of financial services that we can together offer to clients throughout Europe, and around the globe.
[FH]: What are the main challenges of connecting with mature players? What advice would you give to a startup wanting to connect to mature players?
[RF]: Building a technology platform at scale is not a trivial task. Building a platform capable of aggregating data and making payments is not a hobby, it isn’t something you can cobble together with a few engineers and a $20 million seed. Working with global enterprises is a serious business – so it’s important that the platform has enterprise grade reliability and security. We invest a significant chunk of our development time in platform reliability work – we wouldn’t have a business if we didn’t.
