Plaid (company)

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Plaid Inc.
TypePrivate
IndustryFinancial technology and services
FoundedMay 2013; 8 years ago (2013-05)
FoundersZach Perret
William Hockey
Headquarters
San Francisco, California
Number of locations
7 countries (US, Canada, UK, France, Spain, Ireland, Netherlands)
Key people
ProductsTransactions, Auth, Balance, Identity, Assets, Investments, Liabilities, Payment Initiation
RevenueIncrease US$200 million[1] (2019)
Number of employees
500
Websiteplaid.com

Plaid is a financial services company based in San Francisco, California. The company builds a data transfer network that powers fintech and digital finance products.

Plaid's product, a technology platform, enables applications to connect with users’ bank accounts.[2] It allows consumers and businesses to interact with their bank accounts, check balances, and make payments through different financial technology applications.[3] The company operates in the U.S., Canada, the UK, France, Spain, Ireland, and the Netherlands.[4]

On January 13, 2020, Visa announced it was intending to acquire Plaid for $5.3 billion.[5] Visa later abandoned the deal after opposition by the United States Department of Justice due to data privacy and antitrust risks.[6][7]

History[]

Plaid was founded in 2013 by Zach Perret and William Hockey.[8] The pair originally attempted to build consumer financial management products, including budgeting and bookkeeping software.[9] When confronted with difficulties in connecting bank accounts required for these tools, they decided to pivot their core business focus to a unified banking API.[10]

Services[]

Plaid builds a data transfer network that powers Fintech and digital finance products. From the consumer side, this means they allow common apps such as Venmo and Chime to offer banking services without having to develop all the infrastructure themselves.[11] For immediate linking of their bank funds, users of the apps are required to share their bank login credentials with Plaid.[12] For some banks, Plaid will not receive user credentials and instead users will authorize access to bank data through their bank's portal. [13][14]

In October 2020, Plaid announced the "all-new Plaid Link" to reduce the steps necessary to connect financial products.[15]

Funding[]

In late 2013, Plaid raised a $2.8 million seed round from Spark Capital, Google Ventures, and New Enterprise Associates. In 2014, they raised $12.5 million from New Enterprise Associates.

On December 11, 2018, the company announced a $250 million Series C round with a valuation of $2.65 billion. The funding round was led by Mary Meeker, with Andreessen Horowitz and Index Ventures joining as new investors. Former backers Goldman Sachs, NEA and Spark Capital also participated.[16] It was later revealed by Plaid that both Visa and Mastercard had invested in the round.[17]

On April 7, 2021, Plaid raised a $425 million Series D at a valuation of $13.4 billion.[18][19]

Round Date Lead Investor Amount Raised Valuation
Seed Sept 19, 2013 Spark Capital $2.8M --
Series A Nov 15, 2014 New Enterprise Associates $12.5M --
Series B Jun 19, 2016 Goldman Sachs Investment Partners $44M --
Series C Dec 11, 2018 Mary Meeker, Index Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz $250M $2.65B
Series D Apr 7, 2021 Altimeter Capital $425M $13.4B

Acquisition[]

In January 2019, Plaid acquired competitor Quovo for $200 million.[20]

On January 13, 2020, Plaid announced that it had signed a definitive agreement to be acquired by Visa for $5.3 billion.[21][22] The deal was double the company's most recent Series C round valuation of $2.65 billion,[23] and was expected to close in the next 3–6 months, subject to regulatory review and closing conditions. According to the deal, Visa would pay $4.9 billion in cash and approximately $400 million of retention equity and deferred equity,[24][25] according to a presentation deck prepared by Visa.[26]

Visa CEO Al Kelly described the acquisition as an "insurance policy" to neutralize a "threat to our important US debit business."[27]

On November 5, 2020, the United States Department of Justice filed a lawsuit seeking to block the acquisition, arguing that Visa is a monopolist trying to eliminate a competitive threat by purchasing Plaid. Visa said it disagrees with the lawsuit and "intends to defend the transaction vigorously."[28][29]

On January 12, 2021, Plaid announced the proposed merger agreement had been officially terminated almost exactly a year after its initial public announcement of the deal.[30]

Controversy[]

The company has faced controversy for scraping user data, impersonating bank login screens, and not properly disclosing the privacy risks associated with the service.[31] TD Bank filed a lawsuit against Plaid in 2020 accusing the company of trying to "dupe" its users.[32]

In 2021, Plaid settled a $58 million class action lawsuit over claims that it passed on personal banking data to third party firms without user consent. The settlement encompasses five separate lawsuits combined as one. Each claims that Plaid used consumers’ banking login credentials to gather and distribute detailed financial data without prior consent.[33]

Plaid has "exploited its position as middleman," the plaintiffs alleged. Approximately 98 million people are affected by the settlement. Claimants will be given the option to receive the settlement money automatically through payment platforms such as PayPal and Venmo. If all 98 million people were to file a claim, each would receive just 60 cents.

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffkauflin/2020/01/13/why-visa-is-buying-fintech-startup-plaid-for-53-billion/
  2. ^ "Plaid – Press". plaid.com. Retrieved 2017-05-31.
  3. ^ "6 Fintechs Disrupting The Industry". Inc.com. 2017-01-26. Retrieved 2017-05-31.
  4. ^ "Every company is a fintech company". Fortune. Retrieved 2020-03-22.
  5. ^ Andriotis, Cara Lombardo and AnnaMaria (2020-01-14). "Visa to Pay $5.3 Billion for Fintech Startup". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2020-01-28.
  6. ^ Editorial Board (3 December 2020). "Opinion | Visa Is Doing What Big American Companies Do to 'Protect This Business'". The New York Times. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
  7. ^ "Visa and Plaid Abandon Merger After Antitrust Division's Suit to Block". www.justice.gov. 2021-01-12. Retrieved 2021-01-13.
  8. ^ "Fresh off a $2.65B valuation, Plaid co-founder William Hockey is leaving". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2020-03-22.
  9. ^ Velazco, Chris. "Rambler Takes Home The Disrupt NY 2013 Hackathon Grand Prize, Learn To Drive And Radical Are Runners Up | TechCrunch". Retrieved 2017-05-31.
  10. ^ Ha, Anthony. "Plaid Raises $2.8M To Make Banking Data More Developer Friendly | TechCrunch". Retrieved 2017-05-31.
  11. ^ "What is Plaid? | Plaid". plaid.com. Retrieved 2020-10-23.
  12. ^ https://www.huffpost.com/entry/apps-ask-for-your-bank-passwordss_n_5b4616c6e4b0c523e26516a8
  13. ^ https://media.chase.com/news/plaid-signs-data-agreement-with-jpmc
  14. ^ https://www.americanbanker.com/news/plaid-and-u-s-bank-agree-to-share-bank-customer-data-through-an-api
  15. ^ PYMNTS (2020-10-02). "Plaid Unveils New Link To Enhance Onboarding". PYMNTS.com. Retrieved 2020-10-23.
  16. ^ Rooney, Kate (2018-12-11). "Plaid's $250 million funding round propels it to $2.7 billion valuation". www.cnbc.com. Retrieved 2018-12-12.
  17. ^ "Plaid announces strategic investment from Mastercard and Visa". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2020-03-22.
  18. ^ "Plaid Inc". 美股之家. 2021-04-14.
  19. ^ "Plaid raises $425M Series D from Altimeter as it charts a post-Visa future". Techcrunch. 2021-04-07.
  20. ^ Tesfaye, Mekebeb. "Plaid snags API competitor Quovo for $200 million". Business Insider. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
  21. ^ "Visa is acquiring Plaid for $5.3 billion, 2x its final private valuation". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2020-01-13.
  22. ^ "With Plaid Acquisition, Visa Makes A Big Play for the 'Plumbing' That Connects the Fintech World". Fortune. Retrieved 2020-01-28.
  23. ^ "What Plaid's $5.3 Billion Acquisition Means For The Future Of Fintech And Open Banking". finance.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2020-03-22.
  24. ^ Demos, Telis (2020-01-14). "Visa's Bet on Plaid Is Costly but Necessary". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2020-03-22.
  25. ^ "Payments giant Visa acquiring crypto-serving fintech firm, Plaid". Invezz. 2020-01-14. Retrieved 2020-03-22.
  26. ^ "Visa to acquire crypto-serving fintech unicorn Plaid for $5.3B". finance.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2020-03-22.
  27. ^ Bursztynsky, Jessica (2021-01-12). "Visa abandons takeover of Plaid after DOJ raises antitrust concerns". CNBC. Retrieved 2021-01-13.
  28. ^ Noonan, Laura (2020-11-05). "US justice department sues to block Visa's $5.3bn Plaid takeover". Financial Times. Retrieved 2020-11-06.
  29. ^ Reuters Staff (2020-11-05). "U.S. sues Visa to block its acquisition of Plaid". Reuters. Retrieved 2020-11-07.
  30. ^ "Visa and Plaid Announce Mutual Termination of Merger Agreement". www.businesswire.com. 2021-01-12. Retrieved 2021-01-13.
  31. ^ B, Seanie (Aug 27, 2020). "About every 9 months I forget why I don't use".
  32. ^ Deschamps, Tara (2020-10-14). "TD Bank files lawsuit against Plaid, accusing it of trying to "dupe" consumers". CTVNews. Retrieved 2021-01-13.
  33. ^ "Plaid settles class-action lawsuit for $58 million". 6 August 2021.
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