Payments giant Visa is buying Silicon Valley start-up Plaid in a deal worth $5.3 billion, the companies announced Monday. Plaid’s API software, often referred to as the “plumbing” behind fintech companies, lets start-ups connect to users’ bank accounts. It’s well-known among financial technology developers, but the average person interacting with it most likely wouldn’t recognize the name. High-profile Plaid customers include popular peer-to-peer payment app Venmo, mobile investing app Robinhood and cryptocurrency exchanges Coinbase and Gemini. As of December, Plaid said one in four people in the United States with ... (full story)