Stripe is one of the many fintech companies trying to disrupt traditional finance. The company recently launched a new open banking product, although not everyone is happy about it. Plaid CEO Zachary Perret claims Stripe obtained valuable information through dishonest methods, creating a competitive edge.
Stripe Financial Connections Receives Flack
Many people will benefit from the new open banking solutions launched by the Stripe team. Known as Stripe Financial Connections, it lets users connect their bank accounts to access financial data. The primary benefit of doing so is to speed up certain types of transactions. Although it is a new service, it seems Stripe may have borrowed some ideas from Plaid, one of its competitors.
The new service launch drew some snarky comments from Plaid CEO Zachary Perret, who claims Stripe “dishonestly obtained valuable information and leveraged it to launch the new open banking product.” There is no need for such hostilities, as every company is free to launch new products and services, even if similar solutions exist. The competition will benefit the consumer, which is what financial innovation is all about.
Furthermore, Perret claims Stripe took interviews with Plaid and probed into how the latter company approached this functionality. It did not take long for Jay Shash to rebuke these comments, claiming how Perret reached out to him – and not the other way around. Moreover. Stripe works with partners for this new open banking product and would have liked to include Plaid, but that has not happened.
It is unlikely this “spat” is over, although there doesn’t seem much point in bickering. Stripe Financial Connections has been made available in the United States only. It may expand to other regions, although that has not been officially confirmed.