Fintech Trustly acquires Ecospend in UK expansion

Swedish fintech Trustly, a payments platform for digital Account-to-Account transactions (A2A), has acquired UK-based competitor Ecospend, as part of a plan to strengthen the company’s position in the British market.

Founded in 2008, Trustly is a global leader in Open Banking Payments. Serving 8,100 merchants, connecting them with 525 million consumers and 6,300 banks in over 30 countries, the company handles the entire payment journey. 

A licensed Payment Institution under the second payment services directive (PSD2) and operating under the supervision of the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority in Europe, in 2021 Trustly processed over US$28bn in transaction volume in its global network. 

Four years after PSD2 made Open Banking a regulatory requirement in the UK, the market presents a dynamic ecosystem, with rapidly accelerating consumer adoption, and strong transaction volume growth, according to the company.

Metin Erkman, Founder of Ecospend: “Together with Trustly we will be able to further accelerate our expansion in the UK and continue to raise the bar for service excellence to our customers. We will continue to leverage our market-leading technology and bank connectivity in the UK and, together with Trustly, broaden our capabilities to stretch across Europe and further markets. We are really excited to join the Trustly family.”

Expanding into the UK for a wider customer reach  

Ecospend was founded in 2017 and is a FCA UK regulated A2A payments provider. It serves clients in a range of industries, including Public Sector where the company has a key contract with the tax authority of the UK government, HMRC, which went live in March 2021. 

In the past year Ecospend has processed over £5bn in transaction volume from its client portfolio which, in addition to the UK Government, includes several blue chip private sector clients such as ITV, Toolstation, Anglian Water and London Mutual Credit Union.

Ecospend’s strong UK Payment Initiation and Account Information Services (PIS & AIS), as well as connectivity with 80+ UK banks makes it a strong fit with Trustly’s collection capabilities and wider European footprint. 

Johan Tjärnberg, Group CEO of Trustly, comments: “I am delighted to welcome Ecospend to Trustly. This is a perfect strategic fit and I am convinced that it will enable us to deliver a market-leading product in the UK, allowing us to capture opportunities and accelerate our current UK expansion.”