Payward, the parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, agreed on October 14 to acquire Saldo Finance Oy, the Finnish owner of Lithuania’s Saldo Bank UAB, in a transaction expected to close in 2027 pending regulatory approval. The deal would bring deposit-taking, lending, and payment services under a single platform alongside crypto trading.
Saldo Bank reported €196.9 million in total assets as of June 2026, with €169.4 million in retail deposits and €129.5 million in gross credit exposure. The bank expanded its loan book by 18.5 percent year-over-year, growing from €104.4 million in December 2024 to €123.8 million in December 2025.
Payward intends to combine deposit accounts, lending, and payment services with crypto trading in a single app interface. The company’s planned offerings include interest-bearing deposits, consumer and business lending, card products, and banking services for other financial companies.
Asset Growth and Credit Quality
Saldo Bank’s total assets grew to €196.9 million by June 2026 from €162.9 million at the end of 2025, an increase of €34 million. Retail deposits rose €32.5 million over the same period, while gross credit exposure expanded €5.8 million at a 4.7 percent growth rate.
Credit quality deteriorated significantly. Loans more than 90 days overdue more than doubled year-over-year, rising from €1.615 million in December 2024 to €3.514 million in December 2025, a 118 percent increase. Overdue loans as a share of gross loans climbed to 2.84 percent in December 2025 from 1.55 percent in December 2024.
For the six-month period ending June 2026, Saldo Bank reported operating profit before impairment losses of €5.706 million, offset by credit-impairment expense of €6.251 million, resulting in a net loss of €545,000. The bank maintained a 19.0 percent capital adequacy ratio and a liquidity coverage ratio of 1,957.2 percent.
Regulatory and Consumer Protection Framework
The acquisition combines assets with different legal protections. Eligible deposits at Saldo Bank are protected by Lithuania’s statutory deposit-guarantee scheme, generally capped at €100,000 per depositor per institution. Electronic-money balances held through Payward Ireland Limited, Payward’s electronic-money institution, are safeguarded but do not receive ordinary bank deposit insurance; protection depends on applicable insolvency processes. Bitcoin held through custody services carries no deposit insurance against price loss.
Kraken’s existing European Unified Wallet already contains account-level distinctions. Opting into cross margin can expose spot assets to derivatives losses, illustrating the complexity of combining multiple asset classes and legal relationships in a single interface.
Nasdaq has invested $100 million in the Payward group. Singapore Gulf Bank serves as an institutional payment network partner.
