US-based banking software provider Token has raised $16.5m in a funding round featuring Opera Tech Ventures, an investment fund established by banking firm BNP Paribas.
The round included venture capital firm Octopus Ventures and EQT Ventures, a subsidiary of private equity group EQT Partners.
Token has created an open banking platform that allows banks, merchants and payment processors to build payment systems and aggregate data in compliance with regulations. It claims the software is used by more than 4,000 banks.
Octopus Ventures led a $15.7m series A round for the company in 2017, investing alongside financial services provider OP Financial Group, EQT Ventures, Digital Currency Group and Plug And Play Ventures.
Steve Kirsch, Token’s founder and chief executive, said: “For banks, establishing an early position in this new hyper-connected market is a competitive advantage; a new wave of independent financial apps and services will soon be available to their customers, so banks need to be clear about their future roles.
“By solving the infrastructure problem, Token enables them to focus on service innovation and delivery earlier than the competition.”