Almost a year to the day after Visa Inc. announced its intent to acquire Plaid, the two organizations announced they’re terminating the proposed transaction. The companies agreed with the DOJ to dismiss related litigation. CardLinx Insight: The termination of the deal indicates the high price that Visa and Plaid paid for pursuing a proposed deal that was perceived to run...

Visa’s plans to acquire financial technology startup Plaid Inc. were thwarted yesterday when the US Justice Department filed an antitrust lawsuit. The DOJ contends that Plaid, that powers Paypal’s Venmo and other payment apps, competes with Visa, and that the $5.3 billion acquisition would create a monopoly in online debit leading to higher prices and discouraging industry innovation. CardLinx Insight:...

US Retail Sales Jump In June (But It Could Be the Last Increase for Some Time) Retail sales were up in May and June as economies reopened. A better-than-expected 7.5% jump in June, following a record-breaking 18.2% increase in sales in May, surpassed economists’ predictions. The rebound occurred after businesses reopened and pent-up demand for retail goods and services came...

Figg Uses CLO to Help Consumers Brave Recession Augeo, a St. Paul digital engagement company and card-linked technology provider to banks, announced it has acquired Empyr, the San Diego-based company that powers the Yelp card-linked offer program, among other leading publisher platforms. The two Cardlinx members will do business as Figg, with more than 60 million linked cards and $300...

Plaid, the company acquired by Visa for $5.3 billion, was sued in a class action alleging it harvested consumer transaction data without permission. The law suit states “Plaid uses that access to deceptively obtain bank account information from users, accessing information back up to five years, averaging 3,700 transactions per consumer.” CardLinx Insight: The law suit alleges a fear many...

2020’s Silver Bullet for Bank Digital Engagement: Card-Linked Offers If you are a bank serving consumers or a payment card issuer considering ways to drive mobile and digital engagement while adding value for merchants, you are likely considering card-linked offers (CLO). Linking your customer’s mobile app to a payment card or mobile wallet saves consumers money, boosts retailer revenue–and drives...

ChaseVisa announced that it had reached an agreement to acquire financial data aggregator Plaid for $5.3 billion. Plaid’s investors include Visa, MasterCard and American Express, among others. Unlike most card-linked data providers who source consumer financial data through secure APIs from banks and payment networks, Plaid relies on a consumer entering their online banking user name and password into a...