Introducing Plaid’s Industry Advisory Board

The mass adoption of digital finance happened faster than anyone imagined. Yet, we still have a long way to go to create a truly open financial system. Getting there requires industry participants to collaborate to solve problems, align on vision, and ensure a safe ecosystem. Plaid sits at the intersection of financial institutions, fintechs, and the consumers they serve. We are using this unique perspective to move the industry forward in important ways.

As an API-first company, Plaid has dedicated the last several years to building secure connections with more than 12,000 financial institutions to support consumers in all of the ways in which they choose to manage their money. Last year, we helped rally the ecosystem around new data security standards for emerging digital finance companies while continuing to foster innovation. Plaid also has leadership representation in important industry groups like Financial Data Exchange (FDX), a not-for-profit focused on unifying the industry around a common standard for secure and convenient consumer and business access to their financial data. 

Today, we’re delighted to further our efforts to bring the industry even closer together with the announcement of Plaid’s Industry Advisory Board. The advisors bring to Plaid an array of meaningful perspectives that will be additive to how we engage throughout the industry.

As we seek new ways to deepen our leadership role and overall alignment of the industry, the advisors will help us more fully understand the complexities of opportunities and challenges facing all industry participants. Plaid will also collaborate with the advisors to explore how we can add more value to all of our stakeholders and better anticipate emerging industry issues so that we can more quickly and effectively address them.

The advisors share a depth of expertise with a common throughline: significant knowledge and insights gleaned by a strong track record of operational experience and industry engagement in leadership roles spanning financial services, technology, legal, and general management.

We’re excited to work with the advisors to inform how Plaid can continue to strengthen our industry relationships in new and collaborative ways that benefit consumers.

Stay informed on the latest news, thought leadership, and industry events shaping open finance with our Financial Access newsletter. In it, you can read more about our industry-aligned connectivity efforts, including our recent launch of Core Exchange.

Meet the current members of Plaid’s Industry Advisory Board:

• Lindsey Argalas  is the CEO of TaxBit. Prior to this, she was the CEO of the consumer business at payments fintech PagoNxt, part of Banco Santander, where she also served as Chief Digital & Innovation Officer leading open banking, data, API, payment, and blockchain initiatives. Before this, she was SVP and Chief of Staff to the CEO at Intuit. Her experience includes leading global platforms and building teams across consumer and enterprise technology, SaaS, and fintech in the U.S., Europe, Asia, and Latin America. 

• Ben Hoffman is Chief Strategy Officer at Fifth Third Bank, where he leads the corporate strategy, decision sciences, and fintech teams, and previously held Senior Vice President roles in areas including fintech and digital lending. Ben was a Partner at Oliver Wyman, the global management consulting firm owned by Marsh McLennan. He also worked on financial institutions and new financial architecture at the World Economic Forum.

• Mary Kate Loftus is President at Impressia Bank, a division of CNB focused on the advancement of women business owners and women leaders. She was previously the EVP, Head of Digital at M&T Bank, leading the bank’s digital transformation. May Kate joined M&T as the Head of Strategic Planning for the Consumer & Business Bank, and was the runner-up for American Banker’s Digital Banker of the Year in 2018. Before that, she held various roles at HSBC.

• Stephen Mugford is currently a Senior Advisor at Boston Consulting Group. He previously spent more than 20 years at Capital One building the strategy and market intelligence functions as Executive Vice President, Head of Strategy and Customer Experience/Brand Analytics. Throughout his tenure there, he worked directly with the founder and CEO.
  

• Scott Young is Managing Partner at Aisling Consulting and was previously the CEO at iCreditWorks. Prior to this he was Chief Commercial Officer for Marcus by Goldman Sachs. He also served as Consumer Bank Market President and Managing Director – Head of Business Development for global card and digital payments at Citi. Before that, he held various roles at Barclays, GE, and MBNA.