December 2018 Summaries

Plaid has expanded its institution coverage significantly this year, launching in Canada and opening a new engineering office dedicated to bank integrations. As a result, they now support Auth for over 3,600 institutions and Identity for more than 3,000 institutions. This includes major US banks like Discover Bank, Barclaycard, Walmart MoneyCard, and Canadian institutions such as ATB Financial and Desjardins. Plaid plans to continue enhancing its integration efforts in 2019.

Plaid recently launched a new website and design system, which involved collaboration between designers Elena Gil-Chang and Ryan "Smitty" Smith. The design process included cycles of divergence and convergence, with the generative phase involving concept exploration based on brand personality traits. Stakeholders provided feedback during critiques, and user testing helped refine the final design. Illustration played a significant role in the website's design, offering flexibility and balance between technical and organic elements. The new design system aims to better represent Plaid's identity, be scalable and flexible, differentiate from competitors, and evolve with the company.

Ben Lee, General Counsel at Plaid, discusses his role in navigating the intersection of technology and regulation. He highlights the importance of creating an ecosystem that allows developers to innovate while being mindful of regulatory issues. Lee's background in physics and passion for social justice drove him to pursue a career in law, where he can apply theoretical principles to real-world problems. His experience as a public defender and general counsel has prepared him for his current role at Plaid, where he is eager to tackle new challenges and surprises every day. Outside of work, Lee prioritizes family time and balances his demanding schedule with commitments to his loved ones.

Fintech has emerged as an industry over the past five years, improving the quality of financial management products and offering a consumer-centric approach to managing one's finances. A recent $250M Series C funding will be used to grow the team and expand operations, with a focus on developing scalable products that can serve growing customers and shape the fintech ecosystem for decades to come. As digitization continues to simplify financial products, banking services are becoming increasingly self-contained and embeddable, enabling companies to offer embedded banking products that differentiate them in their respective markets. Plaid's platform and data network empower innovators with access to the financial system, and the company aims to make money easier for everyone as it embarks on its next chapter of growth.

In November 2018, updates were made to improve the functionality of various financial services. Support for ATB Financial was added, while existing institutions like TD Canada Trust received enhancements in OTP support and authorized spender identification for Citi business credit card transactions. A new Insights feature was introduced, offering cleaned and categorized transaction data in an Asset Report. Additionally, the Link experience was improved by informing users about connectivity issues with banks before connecting their account.