Plaid

Plaid is a financial technology company that provides a data network and software infrastructure for digital financial services. Its platform enables people to connect financial accounts to apps and services they choose, and gives businesses tools to build financial products using permissioned financial data. Plaid describes its mission as unlocking financial freedom for everyone through technology.

The company’s products serve several areas of finance. Its APIs and related services support bank-account connections and onboarding, payment initiation and account verification, financial-data access, identity checks, fraud prevention, and lending decisions. The product suite also includes tools for personal financial management, such as transaction categorization and access to investment and liability information. Businesses can use its services individually or in combination to support financial experiences across their products.

Plaid works with fintech companies, banks, and other businesses building digital financial services. Its company materials identify partners and customers including Venmo and SoFi, as well as Fortune 500 companies and large banks. Plaid says its network connects to more than 12,000 financial institutions, and that more than 9,000 digital financial services are built on its platform. The network serves institutions across the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Europe.

The platform is intended to help customers connect financial accounts to digital services while supporting permissioned data sharing. Plaid says consumers can manage or disconnect connections through Plaid Portal. Its products span payments, fraud and risk, financial management, lending, open finance, and onboarding. Plaid also provides documentation and developer-oriented infrastructure for companies integrating these capabilities into their own services.

Plaid was founded in 2013 and is headquartered in San Francisco. The company has expanded beyond its original account-connection role into a broader financial data and product infrastructure business. Its public company materials describe a global network and a goal of supporting a more inclusive and competitive financial system by simplifying payments, lending, and fraud prevention.

Plaid’s stated mission and public description of its workplace emphasize impact, growth, and collaboration. The company says it aims to build a diverse team whose members support one another and want to make a difference. Its work connects engineering and financial services, with the platform used by businesses to create consumer-facing financial experiences and tools.