Instant payments fintech TabaPay has filed an application to acquire Transact Bank, a Denver, Colorado-based community bank, in order to gain its licenses. The company announced the move on Wednesday alongside a $155 million strategic growth financing fundraise led by growth equity firm FTV Capital, which included both primary capital and a secondary share transaction. Pending regulatory approval, Transact Bank will be renamed TabaBank, N.A., and operate alongside TabaPay under TabaHoldings, Inc., a newly registered bank holding company.
The proposed acquisition is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026. TabaPay has a network of around 20 partner banks across the U.S. and Canada. A TabaPay representative told American Banker that the capital raise will support continued growth, expansion of integrated payments and money movement capabilities, and the planned launch of TabaBank. TabaPay co-founder and CEO Rodney Robinson said the planned launch would bring payments and banking capabilities under one roof while continuing to work alongside the company's network of bank partners.
Tom Collins, senior partner for financial services at consulting firm West Monroe, said acquiring Transact Bank would give TabaPay its own banking charter and more direct control over the regulated infrastructure behind its payments platform. He noted that TabaPay already provides technology to move money across card and bank rails but relies on partner banks for certain capabilities. Owning a bank, Collins said, could reduce dependency on third parties and potentially capture more of the economics itself. He added that mature fintechs are increasingly asking whether it makes sense to own more of the banking stack themselves, and that once a fintech reaches sufficient scale, buying a bank can move from being a regulatory burden to a strategic advantage.
What remains unknown is whether regulators will approve the application and on what timeline. Collins cautioned that a bank charter brings capital requirements, regulatory scrutiny, and an entirely different level of responsibility. The dossier does not specify the purchase price for Transact Bank, the financial condition of the target, or how the $155 million fundraise will be allocated between the acquisition and ongoing operations. The source also does not detail which specific regulatory approvals are required beyond the general reference to pending approval from regulators.