Sooo, what's a routing number again?... Plaid is the "financial bouncer" that you don't see, but you've probably used. It connects your old school Citi or Chase bank account to fintech apps like Venmo, Square, and Robinhood. Plaid grabs your bank account login info, verifies it, then links it — all without those pesky routing/account numbers.
Sounds cool... Visa thinks so, too. A year ago, Visa announced it would whip out its card to buy Plaid for $5.3B. Visa's strategy: keep your friends close, and your (potential) enemies acquired. The Department of Justice, which prides itself on crushing monopolies, wasn't feeling the vibe.
This could be a blessing in disguise for Plaid... Since Visa announced the acquisition plans, Plaid's customer base has soared 60% to 4K companies. Consumers have flocked to digital payments and online banking during the pandemic — and Plaid is the "plumbing" that connects them. It's possible Plaid's worth even more now than Visa was planning to pay. And it's likely that there's a lot more room for growth.