The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority, or CMA, has invited comments regarding the anticipated acquisition of Plaid Inc by Visa.
Comments Open For Discussion
The regulator is currently considering whether or not Visa’s acquisition of Plaid will, in turn, result in a relevant merger situation that’s stipulated under the Enterprise Act of 2002’s merger provisions. If it does classify as such, the CMA is seeking to conclude whether or not the creation of the merger is expected to cause a substantial drop in competition within any of the UK’s markets for goods or services.
In order to help with the assessment of this situation, the CMA has invited comments regarding the transactions from any party that shows interests. It should be noted that these comments should be provided before the 10th of July, 2020, and must be sent to one Julie Flandrin. She can be contacted via email by: Julie.Flandrin@cma.gov.uk.
Expanding Its Horizons
Back in January of 202, Visa made the announcement that it had officially signed a definitive agreement regarding the acquisition of Plaid. Plaid itself stands as a network that allows for easy, secure connection to a user’s various financial accounts to the apps they use it in, as well as manage their financial lives. The buying price for this acquisition deal was set at $5.3 billion.
The products that Plaid offers allows their consumers to share their financial information with thousands of apps and services in a convenient way. These apps include Betterment, Acorns, Transferwise, Chime, as well as Venmo. Consumers then rely on these services and apps to plan out their spending regimes, as well as monitoring investments and increasing savings
A Lot To Gain
Through Visa’s acquisition of Plaid, the company is both entering a new business sector, as well as gaining a service that will complement and enhance their existing business. Plaid’s business, being primarily focused on fintech, will stand to open new market opportunities for Visa, both internationally and within the US.
Alongside this, Plaid and Visa combined stands to provide an opportunity to deliver enhanced capabilities of payment, as well as other value-added services to various fintech developers. Lastly, the acquisition will allow for Visa to work closer with the various fintech firms across all stages of their development, thus driving the growth of Visa’s core business along with it.
Whether or not ultimate approval will be given remains to be seen, but it’s clear that Visa stands to gain much through this acquisition.
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