Mastercard said today that is acquiring Finicity, a leader in real-time access to financial data, for $825 million; there is also an additional $160 million that shareholders could earn if performance targets are met; according to Mastercard, the addition of Finicity will “strengthen its open banking platform to allow and safeguard more financial services choices”; Mastercard president, Michael Miebach, said in a statement, “With the addition of Finicity, we expect to not only advance our open banking strategy, but enhance how we support and accelerate today’s digital economy across several markets. Finicity has a proven business, built on partnerships with thousands of banks and fintechs, similar to us. Finicity also shares our commitment to consumer-centric data practices, ensuring consumers have a say in how and where their information should be used.”; the transaction is expected to close by the end of year pending a regulatory review. PYMNTS.