The open banking payments platform Token has recently announced that it has been granted official authorisation by the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority, BaFin. Token GmbH is now a licensed Payment Initiation Services Provider (PISP) and Account Information Services Provider (AISP) in Germany, with passporting rights planned for an additional 26 countries.
The platform has also announced the establishment of its EU headquarters in Berlin, and the hiring of a new CTO, Benjamin Pannier, to run technical and product operations. Benjamin brings over 10 years of leadership experience in API product development and payments, including six years at Nokia as Director for the web service API, Nokia Places, followed by a role as CTO of the CEE region for PayU, where he managed a team of over 200 across development sites in Poland and Romania.
More recently, Benjamin held the position of CTO and Managing Director at Zalando Payments and was responsible for establishing and growing its payments subsidiary. From its new location, Token will continue to empower European enterprises to drive the shift from card payments to faster, lower cost, and more secure account-to-account (A2A) payments.
By providing API connectivity to thousands of European banks, Token delivers rich open banking payments functionality to merchants, PSPs, and banking-as-a-service platforms. Token’s stack of A2A payment services includes funding an account, paying off debt via loan or credit card repayments, paying bills, and other e-commerce payments.
Complimentary open data use-cases include customer onboarding and insights, accounting package integration, credit risk analysis, and cash flow management. It was one of the first UK companies to be authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as a payment initiation and account information service provider, and the first to conduct an end-to-end payment through a PSD2-compliant bank API.
“When the UK left the European Union on the 31st December, third party providers (TPPs) licensed by the Financial Conduct Authority lost their passporting rights in the EU,” comments Token CEO, Todd Clyde. “We established our European base, secured a temporary license, and applied to BaFin for a permanent license to minimise disruption from Brexit to our customers. BaFin is the gold standard of regulators and will facilitate easier passporting throughout the EEA. With this license, we will continue to build on the success of the Token platform across Europe. Our new CTO, Benjamin Pannier, is heading up a great team on the ground in Berlin, with deep expertise in payments and the technical know-how to support the unique needs of banks, merchants, and PSPs.”
“While account-to-account payments are common in Germany, it is still very early days for open banking payments. APIs now make SEPA Instant more accessible and open banking payments will soon challenge the use of cards both online and in-store,” adds Token CTO, Benjamin Pannier. Token’s platform provides unrivalled API connectivity, and a fast track for businesses to deliver better digital payment experiences to their customers. I look forward to working closely with the Token team to evolve the open banking payments landscape in Germany, and to support the next stage of Token’s European journey.”
Earlier this month, Token announced $15m in Series B funding with investment from international companies SBI Investment, Sony Innovation Fund by IGV, and existing partners. Recent Token customer announcements include BNP Paribas and the launch of BNPP Instanea for merchants, the European PSP Contis, and the Banking-as-a-Service provider OpenPayd. Token customer HSBC has also launched its fast and secure alternative to online payments, HSBC Open Payments.
