Futurum Research Senior Analyst, Steven Dickens provides his take on the announcement this week of the partnership between remittance network provider Strike and Twitter. As the world of finance becomes increasingly disrupted by new entrants and cloud native players, the landscape just changed dramatically as a social network with over 300 million global users partners with an innovative fintech to disrupt the old guard of the likes of Visa, PayPal, Mastercard and Western Union.
Visa’s Acquisition of Plaid is a $5.3Bn Bet on the Future of Finance
Visa’s acquisition of Plaid is a $5Bn bet on the future of finance, and it’s a smart bet at that. With some 11,000 bank and financial services company clients, covering 200 million consumer accounts, Plaid is currently providing connections for 80 percent of the largest U.S. fintech apps. That’s no small market share — and that’s only the tip of the iceberg. Today, Plaid’s APIs are used by one in four people in the U.S. with a bank account — there’s tremendous opportunity for growth. In addition, this acquisition provides multiple opportunities for Visa. Here’s a look at some of those opportunities, thoughts on what’s ahead for Visa and for Plaid, as well as what we expect in the fintech market in the months ahead.
Following PayPal Lead, Visa, Mastercard, Stripe and Others Bail on Facebook Libra
Mastercard, Visa, Stripe, eBay, and Mercado Pago all bail out of Facebook-led Libra cryptocurrency project, likely due to fears of increased regulatory scrutiny to their own businesses as a result of their participation. Can’t say I blame them.