“Plaid Inc has agreed to pay $58 million to resolve consumers’ claims that the financial technology company obtained and used bank account credentials and financial information without consent. San Francisco-based Plaid also agreed in the nationwide settlement to change certain business practices, according to filings Thursday in California federal court made by lawyers for consumers.”

“One year ago, we launched Payment Initiation in the UK, which included a new Payment Initiation experience in Plaid Link. Link is the fastest way to get started. It’s optimised for a seamless experience, and ensures your user experience benefits from the full Plaid platform. Since then, we’ve focused on improving the user experience for making payments. We introduced QR code authentication to remove friction from the Plaid account linking desktop experience, enabling people to authenticate—and thus make payments—quickly and securely.”

“Plaid Inc must face some claims in a consolidated proposed class action that accuses the financial technology company of obtaining and using consumers’ banking account credentials and financial information without consent. U.S. Magistrate Judge Donna Ryu in Oakland on Friday found the plaintiffs sufficiently allege invasion of privacy, violation of California’s anti-phishing law and other claims.”

“Financial-technology firm Plaid Inc. is planning to nearly double its size in Europe, focusing on expanding the business’s global reach after Visa Inc. ’s $5.3 billion acquisition fell through . Plaid will have about 80 employees in its London and Amsterdam offices by the end of 2021, up from 40 to 50 currently, Keith Grose, head of the San Francisco-based company’s international business, said in an interview.”

“Plaid is introducing a new product called Liabilities to help developers build applications around debt. For starters, Plaid is taking aim at a big problem in the U.S. — student loan debt . The product will expand to cover other kinds of debt over time, but the company wanted to start with student loans because of the depth of the problem. “We’re launching with student loan data given the crisis levels it has reached in the U.S., where it is the second largest debt category behind mortgage. Over 44 million people, hold $1.6 trillion in outstanding loans,” Plaid’s Kate Adamson wrote in a blog post introducing the new product.”