haven't always been keen
A consumer's right to access their financial data was stipulated in the Dodd-Frank Act, the federal law established in the wake of the financial crisis, but the terms are vague. Federal regulators haven't issued specific data sharing standards when it comes to banking data — at least not yet. when it comes to financial data that moves between banks, third-party fintechs, and the pipes that connect the two.
"The fintech ecosystem has opened up a whole breadth of new use cases and new tools for consumers. But I think there's still a lot of work left to be done there," Katie Neal, outreach and advocacy manager at Plaid, told Business Insider. "Plaid is really conscientious about making sure that we're not like the traditional bro-y tech company, for lack of a better word," Neal said.
Meet Plaid's breakout stars: Here are the 14 people leading initiatives across the $5.3 billion fintech that's looking to make financial data more accessibleAdamson is a product lead on Plaid's financial identity team. From banking to credit, Adamson's team focuses on making the way consumers apply for financial offerings more inclusive and seamless.
Adamson says that part of the reason fintechs have become so popular is because their approaches to financial identity are more flexible, opening up access to unbanked consumers. Because Plaid is entrenched in the highly regulated world of financial services, Anderson says her team is more actively involved in product discussions and strategy.
Prior to joining Plaid in 2017, Anderson spent nearly six years as an enforcement attorney at the CFPB in Washington, D.C. Before her time at the CFPB, Anderson was an associate at O'Melveny & Myers in Los Angeles.Booth oversees Plaid's engineering teams located in both New York and Salt Lake City. She was Plaid's first Salt Lake City-based hire, and has since built a team of more than 30 employees in the region.
Prior to joining Plaid in 2018, Booth worked at Qualtrics, which was acquired by SAP shortly after she left. "Being mindful that we can't always predict what fintech innovation is on the horizon — a clear regulatory framework to protect consumer data rights is helpful, but we must be careful that it doesn't stifle innovation in the process. This is a lesson we can take from early UK and EU open banking efforts," she said.
Kamakshivalli oversees design for data access and international offerings. She said that when it comes to design, Plaid's key principals are people-driven. "With COVID-19 and non-touch authentication and self-serve on the rise, over 80% of consumers had used QR codes at least once to either get a menu or pay bills," Kamakshivalli said. "We used this familiar experience to help consumers seamlessly move from desktop to mobile and authenticate accounts from the safety of their mobile app, thereby improving the overall user experience significantly.
"We saw a lot more adoption in [personal financial management] platforms during the pandemic, especially as folks are looking at ways to save and manage their money better at this difficult time," Maravilla said. "We also expect to see growth in the lending use case as businesses start to regain momentum again."
"I work with regulators, policy makers, advocacy groups, consumers, and developers to build the road for increased innovation, and think about how policies impact product, and how product impacts policies," Neal said. But there is still a fair amount of education that goes into working with regulators, especially given the relative nascency of fintech.
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