BNP Paribas Venture Arm Among Investors to Inject $16.5M in Fintech Firm Token

Fintech firm Token has received a $16.5 million injection from investors including the venture arm of banking giant BNP Paribas, a news release announced on June 18.

The self-described open banking platform says it will use the capital to further develop its TokenOSTM operating system — and “accelerate new ways of innovating payments with digital money and ID solutions.”

According to the company, its ecosystem enables banks, customers and developers to complete transactions securely, instantly and with less friction. Token claims more than 4,000 banks have connected to its platform, with Mastercard recently coming on board as a partner. Steve Kirsch, Token’s founder and CEO, 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.”

BNP Paribas’ Opera Tech Ventures was involved in the latest funding round, as well as existing investors including Octopus Ventures and EQT Ventures.

Earlier this week, it was confirmed that Italian banks are planning to deploy blockchain technology to improve transparency in transactions between financial institutions starting next year.

On June 13, blockchain software consortium R3 revealed it is developing a blockchain platform in Brazil with three global banks. Last month, more than 50 banks simulated letter of credit transactions using one of the company’s systems.