Join us at Plaid Effects 2024 to discuss the future of finance

Jen Taylor
President, Plaid

Jen oversees all global business units across Plaid, building innovative financial solutions to help customers scale.

I joined Plaid in February as the company’s first President. I’ve met with many customers, partners, and team members in the past few months. And most ask me some version of the question: “Why did you join Plaid? Why now?” 

I was attracted to the mission of unlocking financial freedom for everyone, as seen in the stories of Plaid’s customers like PadSplit, Prosper, Oportun, and many others. The people, the potential, and the principles are also exciting motivators. But the underlying inspiration for joining Plaid now, the reason I want to do this work on this product today, is because I believe there’s never been a more important time to invest in financial infrastructure. 

A financial ecosystem that prioritizes trust and safety while enabling growth and innovation is what we all want. But only with a secure and connected network like Plaid's can our customers get the insights they need to create more seamless, instant financial experiences. Easy-to-use applications and insight-driven financial services can help consumers understand their spending, save more, invest more, get access to credit, and ultimately, unlock better financial outcomes.

Plaid’s unique vantage point—with thousands of customers, 12,000 banks, and tens of millions of users—gives us a bigger picture of this ecosystem… and what’s coming next.

Here are a few trends shaping the future of finance. Join us live on June 18 for Plaid Effects, where we’ll discuss these trends, the solutions we’re building to unlock financial freedom, and so much more.

Delivering better experiences to unlock growth

Our conversations with customers reveal how eager the entire industry is for innovation in the consumer experience—both the big disruptive kind that brings in an entirely new user base or market and smaller, incremental innovation that adapts to trends and changing behaviors. 

With the anticipated fall release of the CFPB’s 1033 rule that should strengthen a consumer's financial data right, fintechs, banks, and financial services providers are looking for new ways to offer competitive, innovative services to consumers.

Expanding credit underwriting opportunities

According to Fintech Takes, about a third of Americans can’t access credit. While it’s long been understood that credit scores provide an incomplete view of a consumer’s financial health, organizing and revealing insights from consumer-permissioned data while maintaining risk standards has been a barrier to expanding underwriting opportunities and accelerating financial inclusion. 

Lenders want to make accurate, safe, and faster lending decisions and increase approvals, all while managing risk.

Driving faster, more cost-effective payments 

The steep rise of payment acceptance costs means merchants can no longer afford to see this as a “cost of doing business.” Increasingly, they are looking at pay by bank to reduce fees and improve checkout rates. 

For merchants, it’s not easy to overcome the juggling act of incorporating pay-by-bank: lowering costs, maintaining high completion rates, keeping fraud at bay, and reducing chargebacks. But by far, the biggest barrier to adoption is user experience. 

To see growth and broad adoption for pay by bank—as we’ve seen outside of the U.S.—it needs to be as easy as using a debit or credit card. 

Deterring fraud everywhere 

Banks and financial services providers are combating fraud daily, developing new detection and prevention measures while also preparing for the impact malicious activity will have on the trust they’ve worked hard to build. Like most complex problems, a solution rarely lies in going it alone.

Fraud has to be addressed as an industry issue by sharing data on bad actors and advanced schemes across apps, services, and organizations. Only through the power of a trusted network and the ability to turn insights into intelligence will we be able to keep pace with more complex attacks.   

Connect to the future of finance 

On June 18, we’re hosting Plaid Effects, our virtual event focused on these market opportunities and trends. We’ll speak with industry leaders and builders reimagining financial services, from payments to taxes to crypto to credit. Plus, you’ll get a look at how we’re creating more secure and scalable financial infrastructure to help you remove friction and increase consumer loyalty.

I hope to see you there.