Plaid | democratising financial services through technology

Plaid is focused on democratising financial services through technology. They build developer-friendly infrastructure, and intelligent tools that improve the consumer experience and facilitate financial freedom.

Plaid’s platform supports more than 12,000 financial institutions globally with over 8,000 digital financial services. Their products facilitate a variety of actions including, Open Banking services such as Account Information and Payment Initiation services, Payouts, KYC and AML checks, identity verification. Not every product is available in each market Plaid is active in. Consult the Plaid website for more information relevant to your jurisdiction. 

We spoke with Martijn Bos, Europe Policy lead & Corporate Counsel, and John Pitts, Head of Global Policy, to discuss why Plaid expanded into the UK and how being in the UK has helped them to expand their international client base, access the best talent, and enabled them to work alongside cooperative regulators.

Can you provide us with some background on Plaid and its operations?
Plaid is an open banking service provider headquartered in the US. Our B2B products help cut costs and improve businesses’ conversion rates. We have Account Information Service (AIS) and Payment Initiation Service (PIS) licenses and are regulated by the FCA in the UK. 

What were your reasons for expanding into the UK?
Our expansion into Europe was customer driven. Many of the US companies we work with are global. They started using our services in the US and as they expanded internationally it was important that we could support them in those new markets. 

In determining our European location, we undertook a scoping exercise that considered the UK’s regulatory landscape, talent pool, and total addressable market size. The positive findings from this scoping exercise combined with the opportunity to acquire a UK company with an AIS license cemented our decision to expand into the UK in 2019.

The UK’s approach to open banking also made it an attractive location to expand. Products exist under open banking regulation throughout the UK unlike in the US, providing greater clarity in terms of market demand and potential growth opportunities. This made the UK a lucrative business environment for us. 

The UK’s approach to open banking also made it an attractive location to expand.

In your view, what are the UK’s competitive advantages?
From a talent and recruitment perspective, the UK is exceptional. The UK’s fintech ecosystem, with all the associated benefits that you’d expect from a network of innovative firms, is definitely a pull. Also, UK regulators are better at coordinating their activities and engaging with firms than in other jurisdictions. 

From a talent and recruitment perspective, the UK is exceptional.

How do you view the prospects for growth in the UK?
The pace of regulatory innovation, which is faster than some other jurisdictions, is a key driver behind the potential for UK growth. In terms of open banking, the UK has done a very good job at examining the pain points of its set-up. It has addressed those to create a more functional ecosystem, which will help fintechs like us to expand. The fact that EU-UK relations are strengthening also makes us optimistic about the future. Finally, the government’s clear interest in and commitment to fintech makes us confident in the sector’s prospects in the UK.

The government’s clear interest in and commitment to fintech makes us confident in the sector’s prospects in the UK.