Plaid Technologies, a startup that helps the likes of Venmo and Lending Club connect with their users' bank accounts, says that the venture arms of Citi and American Express joined its recent $44 million Series B funding round.
San Francisco-based Plaid only publically launched in 2015 but is already connected to millions of end users through contracts with firms such as OptionsHouse and NGOs like charity:water. The startup's suite of APIs lets developers connect with bank accounts, providing access to transaction data, authentication tools and analytics to reduce fraud.
The issue of customer data sharing has been a sticking point in bank relationships with fintech competitors but recently there has been signs of improvement, with both Wells Fargo and Chase inking API-based deals with Intuit.
Plaid first reported its Series B round last summer, naming Goldman Sachs Investment Partners as the lead investor, but is only now coming forward with the involvement of AmEx and Citi.
Last week it emerged that the startup had settled a patent case brought against it by Envestnet | Yodlee. Under the deal, Plaid will license Envestnet | Yodlee's worldwide patent portfolio.
Arvind Purushotham, co-head, venture investing, Citi Ventures, says: "We're excited to support Plaid as they continue to deliver better access to clean, high-quality financial data, enabling innovation and a secure infrastructure for the financial services ecosystem."