Payward, Kraken’s parent, has signed a deal for Saldo Finance Oy, owner of a Lithuanian specialised bank. Terms are undisclosed and closing is expected in 2027.
Kraken Parent Payward to Acquire Saldo Bank Owner
Payward, the parent of crypto exchange Kraken, has agreed to buy Saldo Finance Oy, the Finnish holding company of Lithuania-licensed Saldo Bank UAB, in a move into regulated EU banking.
Payward announced the definitive agreement yesterday, 14 October 2026, in a company release. Terms were not disclosed. Closing is expected in 2027, subject to customary conditions including regulatory approvals, so nothing has been approved yet.
What Payward is buying
Saldo Bank is a digital-first bank with a specialised bank licence, a narrower authorisation than a full banking licence. According to a 2023 Saldo release, it permits 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 says the bank serves customers in Lithuania, Finland, Sweden and Germany, and holds a passport for the Netherlands. Passporting 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, and secured and unsecured loans to small and medium-sized businesses in Lithuania and Finland. It has full SEPA access, 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 wants to do with it
Payward says the purchase should let Payward Banking offer European clients interest on deposits, lending products and banking-as-a-service, meaning banking functions such as passporting, card issuance and SME lending supplied to other firms. That is all subject to regulatory approvals.
Arjun Sethi, Co-CEO of Payward, said in the release: “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.”
Part of a wider banking build-out
Payward says Payward Banking has originated more than $2 billion in loans. It also holds a Federal Reserve limited-purpose master account, which gives direct access to the US central bank’s payment system, and an electronic money institution (EMI) licence from the Central Bank of Ireland, which allows it to issue e-money and provide payments. Payward’s newsroom also lists a 12 October 2026 release, on Monday, headlined “Kraken Plans UAE Launch, Following Full Market Approval from VARA in Dubai”. VARA is Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority.
What brokers and payment firms should watch
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.
