Visa’s $5.3B Bid to Buy Plaid Faces Heightened Antitrust Scrutiny

Payments Payments One of the bases of mediums of exchange in the modern world, a payment constitutes the transfer of a legal currency or equivalent from one party in exchange for goods or services to another entity. The payments industry has become a fixture of modern commerce, though the players involved and means of exchange have dramatically shifted over time.In particular, a party making a payment is referred to as a payer, with the payee reflecting the individual or entity receiving the payment. Most commonl One of the bases of mediums of exchange in the modern world, a payment constitutes the transfer of a legal currency or equivalent from one party in exchange for goods or services to another entity. The payments industry has become a fixture of modern commerce, though the players involved and means of exchange have dramatically shifted over time.In particular, a party making a payment is referred to as a payer, with the payee reflecting the individual or entity receiving the payment. Most commonl Read this Term giant Visa’s $5.3 billion offer to acquire Silicon Valley start-up Plaid faces heightened antitrust scrutiny at the US Justice Department, which voiced concerns over nascent competition in the payments sector. The Wall Street Journal first reported the news Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

According to the WSJ report, the watchdog may decide to sue to block Visa’s acquisition of Plaid, which claims to connect more than 200 million consumer accounts with 11,000 banks. The company counts high-profile customers like Betterment, Venmo, Robinhood and also top US cryptocurrency exchanges, including Coinbase and Gemini.

US antitrust authorities have recently stepped up regulatory scrutiny of payment and Fintech Fintech Financial Technology (fintech) is defined as ay technology that is geared towards automating and enhancing the delivery and application of financial services. The origin of the term fintechs can be traced back to the 1990s where it was primarily used as a back-end system technology for renowned financial institutions. However, it has since grown outside the business sector with an increased focus upon consumer services.What Purpose Do Fintechs Serve?The main purpose of fintechs would be to suppl Financial Technology (fintech) is defined as ay technology that is geared towards automating and enhancing the delivery and application of financial services. The origin of the term fintechs can be traced back to the 1990s where it was primarily used as a back-end system technology for renowned financial institutions. However, it has since grown outside the business sector with an increased focus upon consumer services.What Purpose Do Fintechs Serve?The main purpose of fintechs would be to suppl Read this Term giants, on the lookout for monopolistic behavior. Sources said the department put the deal under closer watch and was concerned it could limit competition in the payments sector.

It is not clear yet if any of Visa rivals complained about its offer to buy the Fintech, which also lined up Mastercard, Citi and American Express as early investors.

The move is the result of investigations by US top antitrust enforcement agencies, which are quietly preparing for potential litigation following the end of its preliminary review, including lining up witnesses for a trial. The last moves from the government’s twin watchdogs, which spent nearly 10 months probing the deal, also come as Plaid reportedly connects nearly quarter of US bank accounts through an app of one of its clients.

However, Visa promoted its acquisition of Plaid, which launched in 2013, as an important development in giving consumers more security and control over how their financial data is used. Beyond this, the company said it expects the takeover to increase its net revenue by at least one percent in 2021.

For its part, Plaid co-founders, Zach Perret and William Hockey said that involving the Visa brand would help their company scale its products and global footprint.