Visa, Mastercard pile into fintech Plaid

Financial technology company Plaid Inc said on Monday that Visa Inc and Mastercard Inc were strategic investors in a US$250 million round of Series C financing raised in December.

The fintech startup, whose technology lets people connect their bank accounts to mobile apps like Venmo, did not disclose the size of Visa and Mastercard’s investment in a statement announcing the deal.

“Financial services is in the midst of a digital revolution, led by the fintech market,” Zach Perret, Plaid’s chief executive officer, said in the statement. “We … look forward to collaborating with Visa and Mastercard at the intersection of commerce and financial services.”

Founded in 2013, Plaid has some US$310 million in financing from backers including financial giants Goldman Sachs Group Inc, Citigroup Inc and American Express Co.

Venture capitalist Mary Meeker in December led a Series C fundraise that reportedly valued the company at US$2.65 billion, and Plaid says it now has around 400 employees in four cities.

The company gave little detail on how the credit card giants would factor into its business, saying it would “work with Mastercard and Visa at the intersection of payments and data access.”

Plaid has been “expanding our data network this year,” and believes the deal will help accelerate those efforts, it said in the statement.

Mastercard’s Sherri Haymond, executive vice president of digital partnerships, framed the investment as a vote of confidence in Plaid’s ability to make digital payments easier while ensuring data privacy. “Technology is making life easier in all walks of life,” Haymond said in the statement.

Visa’s Bill Sheedy said the investment would let Visa bring its “global scale, brand, security and reliability … to the fintech community.”

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