July 2018 Summaries

Plaid, a company that values an inclusive and collaborative culture, has developed guidelines for code reviews to maintain the health of their code base and promote learning and growth among engineers. The guidelines emphasize respecting each other's time, being clear about opinions versus facts, focusing on overall correctness rather than minor details, ensuring proper testing, and discussing significant design decisions before writing code. To implement these guidelines, Plaid conducts a code review onboarding session for new hires to familiarize them with the company's code review culture and encourages team members to contribute to the evolving guidelines.

In June 2018, significant updates were made to the system including expanded coverage for institutions such as Barclaycard and Marcus by Goldman Sachs. Additionally, support was added for Azlo across all products. Over 400 more institutions were enabled for Auth alongside extended Transaction histories and reduced latency. Historical account balances were added to the PDF version of Asset Reports, bringing them closer in line with the core JSON endpoint. The system also made it easier for Canadian developers to sign up and use the API by accommodating BNs instead of EINs and adjusting for provinces or territories rather than states. Efforts were also invested in improving reliability and performance across the board, as detailed in a blog post about scaling their monitoring platform.

Plaid is a financial services company that provides data and payment solutions to businesses, with a focus on empowering consumers through financial inclusion. The company's sales team, led by Jake Stern, aims to build relationships with potential clients, understand their needs, and offer tailored solutions to help them succeed. As the first New Business Associate hire at Plaid, Jake has had a unique opportunity to contribute to the growth of the company, developing new business opportunities, and working on outbound sales strategies for international markets. He credits his experience in Ecuador with shaping his interest in innovation, entrepreneurship, and economics, which have informed his approach to sales and helped him thrive in his role at Plaid.