Specialist
Divisional head at MX Technologies Inc
Agenda
- Plaid's data aggregation offerings across use cases and verticals
- Competitive differentiation between Plaid, Finicity (NYSE: MA), Yodlee (NYSE: ENV) and others
- Growth trajectory through use case expansion and pricing power
- Outlook following confirmation of Plaid remaining an independent company
Questions
1.
Could you provide an overview of the financial data aggregation sector and 2-3 key trends or drivers impacting Plaid and its peers that investors should monitor?
2.
Could you highlight any market trends, drivers or demand dynamics that you consider notable in the industry?
3.
How might the regulatory environment impact Plaid and the broader industry? The open banking environment is very different in Europe vs the US. The company has asked the CFPB [Consumer Financial Protection Bureau] to directly supervise it and you mentioned the recent executive order from the Biden administration.
4.
Could you outline the use cases of data aggregation and your expectations for a longer-term expansion on top of those use cases?
5.
MX has a partnership with TransUnion. Do you expect the other data aggregators to similarly work alongside the credit bureaus? Alternatively, do you think there is a case to be made where they can actually compete and beat the credit bureaus in certain aspects?
6.
How would you describe the pricing environment across use cases? I understand it’s been quite commoditised in certain areas. Plaid’s transaction product Capital One launched a free API. How quickly are prices falling and where do you think they will land?
7.
Could you estimate the extent of Plaid’s pricing concession?
8.
Could you compare Plaid to Finicity, Yodlee, and Tink? What are the big differences and relative strengths and weaknesses?
9.
How do you think Plaid is positioned with APIs [application program interfaces] in the context of banks moving towards APIs vs screen scraping? It recently launched an API with US Bank and its website seems to be very API-focused.
10.
How would you rank the data quality of core players such as Plaid, Finicity, Yodlee and Tink?
11.
We’ve established that there’s a difference in quality within the large numbers of connections that various players boast with Plaid claiming 11,000. How might Plaid catch up with the rest of the players and start to ramp up on its connections, particularly as it focuses more on APIs vs screen scraping?
12.
What are your thoughts on Visa’s June 2021 acquisition of Tink and how it might impact the competitive landscape?
13.
You mentioned Visa was interested in Plaid but was famously rejected and has instead acquired the more Europe-based Tink. Do you think Visa still needs a US-based player, or can it penetrate the US market with Tink?
14.
Could a bank consortium similar to Zelle potentially threaten Plaid or the broader industry’s role?
15.
How is Plaid uniquely positioned to deliver on a broader range of use cases vs other players in this sector? How has its positioning allowed it to easily move into use cases such as payroll?
16.
What do you think about Plaid’s product roadmap as it progresses, overlapping with Stripe’s? How might that competition play out longer term?
17.
What do you think are Plaid’s key headwinds and tailwinds? Which headwinds might stunt growth?
18.
Could you elaborate on Plaid’s flaws or gaps in its offering beyond its connections and data quality?
19.
Do you expect Plaid’s ability to price at a premium to diminish? You mentioned that it is aggressive with pricing but it does seem to have the aura of a premium offering.
20.
What do you think of Plaid’s positioning to potentially displace Visa or the traditional debit networks? I noticed the pay-by-bank model that it could implement, which would materially reduce cost for merchants.
What do you think about this threat to Visa and Plaid’s push to be more consumer-facing?
21.
What M&A would you expect Plaid to pursue given its broader vision? What targets might it be interested in or would you expect to be disruptive in the industry?
22.
What are 2-3 questions you might have for the management teams if you were an investor?
23.
Who do you think could be long-term winners and losers in the industry?
