Open banking platform Token secures $16.5M strategic investment to transform payment industry

Turnkey open banking platform Token announced that it has raked in $16.5 million from prominent investors including BNP Paribas-backed Opera Tech Ventures, Octopus Ventures, and EQT Ventures.

As per its press release, the proceeds of the strategic round funding will be used to expand adoption of its open banking platform TokenOS and accelerate innovative payment methods with digital money and ID solutions.

“For banks, establishing an early position in this new hyper-connected market is a competitive advantage; a new wave of independent financial apps and services will soon be available to their customers, so banks need to be clear about their future roles,” Steve Kirsch, Token founder and CEO, said.

“By solving the infrastructure problem, Token enables them to focus on service innovation and delivery earlier than the competition.”

Launched in 2015, the San Francisco and London-based Token offers its TokenOS that enables banks, their customers and developers to initiate payments and transfer money and information securely and instantly across the world.

Currently, Token is connected to over 4,000 banks, and it has recently partnered with Mastercard to provide support for the connectivity layer of the financial service corporation’s open banking hub. Its list of clients also include An Post, Khaleeji Commercial Bank, Sberbank Croatia and Slovenia, Tandem Bank, and Think Money Group.

Recently, consultancy firm McKinsey & Company said that retail banks are slow to adopt blockchain technology, citing regulations and conservative consumers as hurdles. It noted that retail banks remain cautious when it comes to the use of blockchain technology, while their investment banking counterparts are actively experimenting.