Plaid's rise as the banking connectivity layer (2013-present)
Plaid built APIs that connect fintech apps to bank accounts, becoming the standard connectivity layer for the banking industry. Bluvo's co-founder Florian Sabani explicitly described Bluvo as building 'the first centralized API fabric-layer just like OpenBanking and Plaid did the past decade.'
Plaid became the default connectivity layer for fintech, connecting thousands of apps to thousands of banks.
Plaid's model showed that connectivity infrastructure becomes strategically valuable as the standard layer in financial systems.
Bluvo was explicitly modeled on Plaid's approach. Mesh's acquisition of Bluvo mirrors how connectivity infrastructure becomes the standard layer in financial systems.
