Does the Visa-Plaid Deal Mean Advisors Lose?

Nearly a year to the day after Plaid bought wealth management-focused account aggregator Quovo for roughly $200 million, Visa dipped into its war chest and agreed to a $5.3 billion purchase price for Plaid. While tangential to Visa’s acquisition, wealth management will nevertheless be affected by the credit card and payments giant’s purchase. Many wealth management industry observers note, at the very least, that the move means there is strong continued interest in account aggregation—and that it will be harder for financial services incumbents to turn away aggregators. Those same industry observers are hopeful, but not quite sure, what the acquisition will mean specifically for financial advisors who have grown to depend on account aggregation technology.

Account aggregation has become a key component of the functionality behind goals-based financial planning engines in products that range from Envestnet | MoneyGuide (with aggregation via Envestnet | Yodlee) to eMoney Advisor to Wealthfront and Advicent (with aggregation powered by Quovo). 

Continue reading at WealthManagement.com.