By blending traditional account-to-account payments with blockchain-based finance in a Pay by Bank model, the partnership between Coinbase and Tink marks another step toward a more connected and interoperable financial ecosystem.
Coinbase and Tink, a Visa solution, have announced a partnership to introduce Pay by Bank for crypto purchases and sales in Germany. The open banking–powered method allows users to move money directly between bank accounts, offering a faster, secure, and mobile-first way to access digital assets.
Through this integration, Coinbase users in Germany can now top up their accounts and buy or sell cryptocurrencies in just a few taps, without card intermediaries or manual data entry. The partnership represents another step in connecting traditional banking infrastructure with blockchain-based financial systems, paving the way for more seamless, real-time movement of value across networks.
“Pay by Bank” (also known as account-to-account or A2A payments powered by open banking) has become a very popular payment method in Europe. A recent survey of 8,000 consumers across six European markets found that 73% of respondents were familiar with Pay by Bank / A2A payments. In the Netherlands the figure was extremely high – 97%, and in the UK 90%.
However, A2A crypto payments are not that common, as crypto is usually linked to the blockchain infrastructure and digital wallets, rather than bank accounts. Combining the convenience of Pay by Bank with the speed and traceability of cryptocurrencies is another important step to move these digital assets into mainstream.
This announcement follows Coinbase’s recent collaboration with Cloudflare to establish the x402 Foundation, an initiative focused on developing a universal payment standard for AI-driven and agentic transactions.
The crypto exchange’s new partnership is also a logical continuation of its earlier collaboration with Visa. Earlier, Coinbase integrated Visa Direct real-time payment service so that eligible Visa debit cardholders could instantly deposit funds into their Coinbase accounts, enhancing the speed and flexibility of transactions.
Together, these efforts reflect a broader industry shift toward unifying various payment rails, open banking, and crypto-native protocols into a single, interoperable digital finance ecosystem.
