skip to main content

Visa to acquire Plaid, the fintech powering Venmo and other banking apps, for $5.3 billion

CNBC

Payments giant Visa is buying Silicon Valley start-up Plaid for $5.3 billion.

Plaid’s API software, often referred to as the “plumbing” behind fintech companies, lets start-ups connect to users’ bank accounts. It’s well-known among financial technology developers, but the average person interacting with it most likely wouldn’t recognize the name. High-profile Plaid customers include popular peer-to-peer payment app Venmo, mobile investing app Robinhood and cryptocurrency exchanges Coinbase and Gemini.

“We are extremely excited about our acquisition of Plaid and how it enhances the growth trajectory of our business,” Visa chairman and CEO Al Kelly said in a statement Monday. “Plaid is a leader in the fast growing fintech world with best-in-class capabilities and talent. The acquisition, combined with our many fintech efforts already underway, will position Visa to deliver even more value for developers, financial institutions and consumers.”

Source