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institution2013–present

Plaid

Disciplines:
financial technology
banking/banking infrastructure
productivity/api connectivity

Summary

American fintech company providing the data infrastructure layer connecting consumer bank accounts to financial applications via API — the invisible plumbing of the fintech ecosystem.

Core Contribution

Built the dominant bank-connectivity API that made the fintech application boom possible — every app that reads your bank balance or initiates a transfer likely uses Plaid — and survived a blocked $5.3B Visa acquisition to continue as an independent infrastructure company.

Historical Influences

Zach Perret William Hockey

Intellectual Lineage

Financial Technology InfrastructureAPI EconomyOpen Banking Movement

Contemporaries & Peers

MX TechnologiesYodleeFinicityTink

Minds Influenced

Fintech application ecosystem broadly

Intellectual Posterity

Bank connectivity API standardOpen banking infrastructure model

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Plaid

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