Payward agrees to buy Lithuania’s Saldo Bank

Payward, the parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, has agreed to acquire Lithuania’s Saldo Bank, a deal that could give it a regulated base for deposits and lending in the European Union. The Payward announcement says the buyer signed an agreement to acquire Saldo Finance Oy, a Finnish holding company whose subsidiary is Saldo Bank UAB. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to close in 2027.

The steps are straightforward: Payward buys the holding company; that gives it ownership of the bank subsidiary; and, after the deal closes and approvals are secured, Payward expects to use the bank’s licenses and infrastructure to offer services to European customers. The price was not disclosed. CoinDesk’s report said Saldo had 163.9 million euros, or about $180 million, in assets at the end of 2025.

What would Saldo Bank add to Payward’s business?

It would add a licensed bank and products already operating in several European markets. Saldo Bank is licensed in Lithuania, Finland, Sweden and Germany, and has a passport to operate in the Netherlands. That passport lets it provide services in another market under its existing EU authorization, subject to applicable requirements.

Saldo already offers retail term deposits in Lithuania, Finland, Sweden and Germany. It also makes consumer loans in Lithuania, Finland and Sweden, and loans to small and medium-sized businesses in Lithuania and Finland. Its credit card is available in Finland. Payward says Saldo also supports embedded lending partnerships, where a fintech uses the bank’s lending infrastructure to offer credit to its own customers.

Which services could Kraken customers get?

After closing, and subject to regulatory approvals, Payward expects to offer interest on deposits, secured and unsecured small-business loans, consumer lending, credit cards and euro payments. The acquisition would put those services alongside Payward’s crypto trading business. It could also let Payward provide banking-as-a-service to partners, including card issuance, SEPA payments and lending infrastructure.

That setup resembles adding a bank’s pipes beneath a financial app: the bank holds deposits and supports payments and credit, while the app provides the customer interface. Payward says its banking business has already originated more than $2 billion in loans and holds an electronic money institution license in Ireland. The planned purchase adds a bank licensed in the EU; it does not mean the new services are available now.

What still has to happen before the deal closes?

Regulators must approve the acquisition, and the parties must complete the transaction. Payward expects that process to finish in 2027. Until then, the announced deposits, loans, cards and payment services remain planned offerings, not a change to what Kraken customers can access today.

Sources

• Payward announcement — payward.com
• CoinDesk’s report — coindesk.com