Swedbank has reached an agreement to acquire Barclays’ stake in Entercard, making Entercard a wholly owned subsidiary of the bank.
“Today we are forming the largest card business in the Nordics and Baltics. Through this acquisition, Swedbank continues to invest in and develop our business. This creates even greater opportunities to strengthen our customer offering,”
said Tomas Hedberg, Deputy CEO of Swedbank.
Entercard is a credit market company in the Nordics, providing card products and consumer loans through partnerships in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland.
Swedbank and Barclays have co-owned Entercard since 2005. Entercard employs around 450 people and serves 1.5 million customers. It will continue to operate under its own brand.
“For 20 years, Entercard has been on a strong growth journey. Becoming a full part of Swedbank, the leading financial group in Sweden and the Baltics, creates new business opportunities to further strengthen our operations,”
said Jan Haglund, CEO of Entercard.
The purchase price reflects 50% of Entercard’s equity at the time of acquisition.
In the first quarter of 2025, the company’s total equity was approximately SEK 5.2 billion.
The acquisition is expected to reduce Swedbank’s Common Equity Tier 1 capital ratio by about 30 basis points once the transaction is completed, a development aligned with Swedbank’s 15/27 business plan.
Featured image credit: Edited by Fintech News Nordics, based on image by snowing via Freepik
