financial data | Biz Builder Mike

Plaid, an open banking platform, announced on Tuesday it has decided to terminate its pending acquisition by Visa and will remain an independent company. The latest news on the acquisition was made just a little over two months after it was revealed that the U.S. Department of Justice has filed suit in federal court pertaining to the acquisition.

As previously reported, Visa announced in January 2020 it was planning to acquire Plaid for $5.3 billion. In purchasing Plaid, Visa was reportedly to jumpstart its push for digital prominence. Kelly called the acquisition a “natural evolution” as it connects consumers with digital financial services. At the time Al Kelly, CEO and Chairman of Visa, stated:

“The combination of Visa and Plaid will put us at the epicenter of the Fintech world, expanding our total addressable market and accelerating our long-term revenue growth trajectory.”

At the time of the lawsuit’s announcements, Visa refuted the suit:

“Visa strongly disagrees with the Department of Justice (DOJ), whose attempt to block Visa’s acquisition of Plaid is legally flawed and contradicted by the facts. This action reflects a lack of understanding of Plaid’s business and the highly competitive payments landscape in which Visa operates. The combination of Visa and Plaid will deliver substantial benefits for consumers seeking accessto a broader rangeof financial-related services, and Visa intends to defend the transaction vigorously.  As we explained to the DOJ, Plaid is not a payments company. Visa’s business faces intense competition from a variety of players – but Plaid is not one of them. Plaid is a data network that enables individuals to connect their financial accounts to the apps and services they use to manage their financial lives, and its capabilities complement Visa’s. Together, Visa and Plaid will deliver better digital experiences and more choice for consumers in managing their money and financial data. Visa is confident that this transaction is good for consumers and good for competition.”

Speaking about Plaid remaining an independent company, Zachary Perret, Co-Founder and CEO of Plaid, shared:

“Since founding Plaid 8 years ago, we have been maniacally focused on expanding access and improving financial outcomes for consumers, developers, and financial institutions – and the intent of joining Visa was to accelerate that work. Unfortunately, the pace of a multi-year regulatory review is not compatible with the fast-moving realities of a startup – and delaying close another year or more is not in the best interest of our customers, the financial system, or consumers themselves.”

Perret further revealed despite the struggles that happened in 2020 globally, the past year has been one of exciting growth for Plaid, with hundreds of new banks joined the Plaid platform, and more than 4,000 companies turned to the platform’s service as the infrastructure to support their businesses, including many of the largest Fortune 500 companies who are focused on bringing digital financial products to their customers. In regards to his 2021 predicts, Perret added he expects the year to be more of the same as 2020.

“In addition to our ongoing focus on helping companies of all sizes deliver digital financial products, we have made significant progress in the ways that we work with financial institutions. Delivering on the promise of open finance is in everyone’s best interest, and we’ll be working in lockstep with our customers and financial institutions to bring this to fruition globally.”

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Fintech companies are reportedly urging the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to “break” banks during 2021.

A group of London-based startups is asking the FCA to look into ending the control and dominance of traditional banking institutions, specifically their use of consumer data. The companies have stated that this move should increase healthy competition in key financial services such as savings, credit, mortgages and pensions.

The Coalition for a Digital Economy (Coadec), which serves as the policy voice of Fintech startups and other tech scaleups and reportedly includes former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair’s son Euan as one its board members, is recommending a more market-led approach to providing open finance services (somewhat like in Australia).

Coadec is calling on the FCA to put an end to what they consider to be an “overly-standardized” approach to offering these types of financial services.

The Coadec consortium notably includes Fintech Unicorn TransferWise and Seedrs. In statements shared with City A.M., the group suggested that the FCA needs to “break banks” and offer a more transparent open banking system. Specifically, the FCA should allow other providers (not just banks) to engage in platforms through which consumer data, user accounts and customer transactions are shared among various parties, the consortium recommended.

Joel Gladwin, Head of Policy at Coadec, noted that if Fintechs are provided more access to data this year, then it should increase competition in key services like savings, credit, mortgages and pensions.

Gladwin added:

“Banks were able to send armies of slick lobbyists and magic circle lawyers to Brussels to build extra barriers to Fintechs and maintain their gatekeeper roles.”

But if consumers are able to have greater control of their banking details and related information, then it could help increase trust, promote more engagement and empower activity, Gladwin claims.

He further noted:

“By granting consumers a new data sharing right, and encouraging a market of specialists to compete, banks will have very little room for maneuver this time. Ultimately, this will allow consumers to access better, and more tailored, financial services than they do currently.”

The Fintech companies stated that there has to be an end to bank charges on third-party firms for accessing their financial data. They also recommended removing the 90-day re-authentication requirements, which asks customers to re-authorize their banking provider to release their financial data for use by other parties.

According to Gladwin:

“It is an unnecessary barrier that is preventing consumers from accessing better financial services. As the Brexit transition nears, the Government will have greater flexibility to find a better solution.”

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