Trustly

Trustly is a Swedish open-banking payments innovator operated by **Trustly Group AB** in Stockholm, founded in 2008 and the leading European specialist in account-to-account (A2A) "Pay by Bank" transactions — the alternative payment rail that bypasses card schemes entirely by initiating direct bank transfers from consumer accounts. The company processes approximately US$10B annually across 275M transactions, connects 9,000+ merchants to 650M consumer bank accounts globally, and operates in 33+ markets across Europe and North America. Offices span Stockholm (HQ), Örebro, Gzira (Malta), London, Helsinki, Barcelona, Lausanne, Luxembourg, Lisbon, Izmir (Turkey), Ottawa, San Carlos (California), and Vitória (Brazil). Regulatory and compliance posture is strong: Trustly holds a **Swedish payment-institution licence** supervised by **Finansinspektionen** plus a **UK Authorised Payment Institution** licence from the FCA, and provides cross-border services under PSD2. Certifications confirmed on the public site include **ISO 27001**, **SOC 2**, **TÜV Saarland** accreditation, and GDPR alignment. Open-banking expertise predates the regulatory codification — Trustly was building bank-account-to-merchant rails for 13 years before PSD2 made A2A a regulated category. The ownership and history side complicate a procurement-grade audit. **Nordic Capital** (a Stockholm-based Nordic PE firm) acquired Trustly from Bridgepoint in 2018; **BlackRock Private Equity Partners** (US, the private-equity arm of the world's largest asset manager) joined as a co-investor. An IPO was actively explored in 2021 at a rumoured €9B valuation but was put on hold in 2022 after **the Swedish Finansinspektionen imposed a SEK 130M (~€11M) fine for serious anti-money-laundering deficiencies**. As of late 2024 / 2026 Nordic Capital is again exploring options including sale or IPO at approximately US$10B. Under the directory's strict-ownership stance the BlackRock co-investment plus the AML fine history plus non-EU offices (Ottawa, San Carlos, Izmir, Vitória) flag material CLOUD Act exposure even with the strong Swedish regulatory anchoring. Pricing is enterprise / volume-negotiated; no public per-transaction tier. Best fit: Swedish, Nordic, and broader EU retailers, gambling operators (Trustly is dominant in regulated gaming), and B2B platforms wanting open-banking-native A2A rails as a Stripe / PayPal alternative.