Plaid teams up with Microsoft as Fortune 100s focus on fintech

Money in Excel now features a Plaid integration that allows users to securely connect their financial accounts, import the data within them, and sync balances and transactions over time

Plaid, whose APIs connect third-party platforms with bank accounts, has teamed up with Microsoft to turn Excel into a fintech app—and the company revealed that it’s talking to more than 25% of Fortune 100 companies about serious fintech initiatives.

Money in Excel now features a Plaid integration that allows users to securely connect their financial accounts, import the data within them, and sync balances and transactions over time.

Plaid has provided the permissioned connection to financial accounts via Plaid Link directly within the Microsoft Money in Excel.

After linking their accounts, a user will have access to their balance and transaction history, providing an up-to-date and holistic financial picture. Plaid said it connects to 11,000 institutions across the US, Canada, and Europe, opening up a significant user base for Microsoft.

Marc Andrusko, head of growth at Plaid, wrote in a blog post: “Since the beginning, Plaid’s mission has been to make money easier for everyone, and that mission isn’t reserved for just financial services. Money in Excel is a really interesting example of the type of experience we can expect to see more of in the future. Money in Excel will start to become available in the US in the coming months.”

Writing separately, Plaid chief operating officer Eric Sager cited the partnership with Microsoft as evidence that every company can “become a fintech company in some way”, particularly “in light of what’s going on in the world”.

He wrote: “During this crisis people are learning new digital habits which may have long-lasting effects on consumer behavior. In many ways, the situation is shining a light on areas that need better experiences for consumers. We believe every company will become a fintech company in some way and that delivering financial services is no longer the sole domain of the traditional providers.”

“For example, Microsoft today announced new capabilities for Microsoft Excel that signals the types of fintech experiences we can expect non-financial services companies to deliver in the years ahead.”

He went on to reveal that Plaid is talking to more than 25% of Fortune 100 companies about serious fintech initiatives.

“Like Microsoft, many of these larger, tech-forward companies have little to no role in financial services today, but will likely help shape our fintech reality for decades to come given their consumer footprint.”

Image: Microsoft

Mark Dugdale