Britain’s biggest high street bank is finalising plans to buy a stake in Bink, a fintech business which allows customers to ditch their plastic loyalty cards.
Sky News understands that Lloyds Banking Group is close to investing millions of pounds in return for a minority stake in Bink, which was set up in 2015.
Bink has signed up a number of retail partners, including Harvey Nichols, Iceland and the Japanese food chain Wasabi, since its launch.
It works by linking consumers’ payment cards with the loyalty schemes of participating retailers, and struck its first major banking partnership with Barclays in 2019.
Barclays reportedly invested approximately £10m in Bink at the time, giving seven million UK retail banking customers access to the app.
It was unclear on Monday how much Lloyds planned to invest in the business, or at what valuation.
Their partnership is expected to launch in the first half of the year.
Bink is also thought to be raising additional capital from existing shareholders alongside the injection from Lloyds.
While modest in size, Lloyds’ investment in Bink will underline the continuing boom in the British fintech sector, with billions of pounds raised by companies last year.
Bink is chaired by Bob Wigley, who also chairs UK Finance, the banking industry’s most influential trade association.
Lloyds declined to comment, while Bink did not respond to an enquiry.