It is a hack around regulatory failure to mandate this functionality at finance firms (both Congress and the Fed have failed in this regard). The Fed's instant payments product (FedNow [1]) goes live in 2023, which is going to put downward pressure on Visa's debit business. The Fed only began to move on instant payments when pressured by Congress [2] (who didn't want smaller banks held hostage by Early Warning System's "Zelle" product, which is operated by a consortium of the nation's largest banks).
Europe mandated this functionality (PSD2) [3]. With instant payments and if regulations required banks to offer this functionality, Plaid's value would evaporate.
Europe mandated this functionality (PSD2) [3]. With instant payments and if regulations required banks to offer this functionality, Plaid's value would evaporate.
[1] https://www.frbservices.org/financial-services/fednow/index....
[2] https://www.paymentsjournal.com/timeline-the-feds-real-time-...
[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Payment_Services_Directive