On 14 October 2026 Payward, the parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, said it had signed a definitive agreement to acquire Saldo Finance Oy, a Finnish holding company whose subsidiary Saldo Bank UAB is a digital-first specialised bank licensed in Lithuania. According to Payward, Saldo Bank operates in four markets with a passport into the Netherlands; it offers retail term deposits in Lithuania, Finland, Sweden and Germany, consumer lending in Lithuania, Finland and Sweden, and SME lending in Lithuania and Finland, has launched a credit card in Finland (Sweden expected in 2027) and runs embedded lending partnerships with fintechs in Finland and Germany. Payward says it already holds a limited-purpose Federal Reserve master account in the US and an e-money licence from the Central Bank of Ireland. The transaction is expected to close in 2027, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals. No price has been disclosed.