Deal between Visa and Plaid given the green light

Source: CMA

The CMA has cleared Visa’s anticipated purchase of fintech start-up Plaid.

In January 2020 Visa announced it had an agreement in place to buy Open Banking specialist, Plaid. Specifically in the UK, Plaid offers payment initiative services (PIS) to enable consumers to make real-time account-to-account payments directly from a merchant’s app or website.

The decision by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) follows a Phase 1 review in which it investigated several possible ways the deal could harm competition. With review now complete, it means the $5.3 billion deal can now go through.

The CMA concluded that the combined Visa-Plaid business would not have the ability to push other providers out of the market, principally because customers often use multiple suppliers for their payment options. Rival providers of PIS would also be able to enter into arrangements, such as mergers or partnerships, with other payments providers to acquire customers.