Plaid Technologies, a startup that helps FinTechs like Venmo and Lending Club access their customers’ bank accounts, has raised $44 million in a Series B round of venture capital funding.
According to a report, the venture units of Citi and Amex took part in the latest round of fundraising. The report noted that, while Plaid has only been around since 2015, it has connected to millions of end users via contracts with companies, including OptionsHouse, and non-government entities, including charities. Plaid’s API enables developers to access bank accounts and provides access to transaction data and authentication tools, as well as analytic tools, to lower the amount of fraud.
“We’re excited to support Plaid as they continue to deliver better access to clean, high-quality financial data, enabling innovation and a secure infrastructure for the financial services ecosystem,” Arvind Purushotham, co-head of venture investing at Citi Ventures, said in the report.
The move on the part of Plaid to raise another round of funding comes at a time when FinTechs are starting to make inroads with banks that have been balking at sharing customer account data. Late last week, Wells Fargo inked a data exchange deal with Intuit in which Intuit customers can import their account data without having to provide their username and password. And at the end of January, JPMorgan & Chase Co. announced a partnership with Intuit in a deal that will allow Chase customers to easily load their account data into the Mint, TurboTax Online and QuickBooks Online financial management applications.
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