Visa set to buy Plaid, the fintech that powers apps like Betterment and Venmo, for $5.3 billion

Payments giant Visa announced on Monday it has agreed to buy fintech startup Plaid for $5.3 billion. 

Plaid serves as the link between financial apps such as Betterment and Venmo and customers' bank accounts. The company uses application programming interfaces (APIs) to share data between both two sides. 

In December 2018 the buzzy startup raised $250 million in a Series C that Visa participated in and valued it at $2.65 billion, according to TechCrunch. 

In January 2019, Plaid acquired competitor Quovo for an undisclosed amount. 

"We are extremely excited about our acquisition of Plaid and how it enhances the growth trajectory of our business," said Al Kelly, CEO and chairman of Visa, in a statement. "Plaid is a leader in the fast growing fintech world with best-in-class capabilities and talent. The acquisition, combined with our many fintech efforts already underway, will position Visa to deliver even more value for developers, financial institutions and consumers."