Visa and Plaid terminate merger discussions

Visa and Plaid announced that they have terminated their merger agreement and agreed with the US Department of Justice to dismiss the litigation related to the transaction.

Both companies issued a joint announcement in January 2020 of the merger in a $5.3 million deal. The deal was expected to strengthen Visa’s penetration into the fintech space.

“We are confident we would have prevailed in court as Plaid’s capabilities are complementary to Visa’s, not competitive,” said Al Kelly, Chairman and CEO of Visa Inc. “We believe the combination of Visa with Plaid would have delivered significant benefits, including greater innovation for developers, financial institutions and consumers. However, it has been a full year since we first announced our intent to acquire Plaid, and protracted and complex litigation will likely take substantial time to fully resolve.”

Mr. Kelly added, “We are focused on accelerating our business by advancing our broader strategy and continuing to drive Visa’s three growth pillars: consumer payments, new flows, and value added services. We have great momentum to build upon. Over the past year, our Visa Direct solution moved money around the world using multiple card, ACH and RTP networks, growing nearly 70 percent. In addition, our value added services revenue has grown in the mid-to-high-teens. We have great respect for Plaid and the business they have built and look forward to our continued partnership.”

“This past year saw an unprecedented uptick in demand for the services powered by Plaid, and our priority is to support the hundreds of millions of people who now rely on fintech,” said Zach Perret, CEO and co-founder of Plaid. “We made great strides last year, growing our customers by more than sixty percent and adding hundreds of banks to our platform. While Plaid and Visa would have been a great combination, we have decided to instead work with Visa as an investor and partner so we can fully focus on building the infrastructure to support fintech.“