Plaid acquired for $5.3B

US digital payments volume set to reach $1 trillion in 2020. [AngelList]( [View Online]( [Instagram]( Is it possible to build a truly international payments company? A global [Venmo](, for example, that seamlessly moves money across borders? To date, it's been difficult. Payments companies face a unique regulatory environment every time they expand to a new country, which makes operating internationally a slog. As a result, some big tech companies are trying to acquire their way into foreign markets. PayPal, which owns Venmo, just purchased a majority stake in GoPay, a Chinese company that offers online payment and e-commerce solutions across Asia. The deal wasn't without its challenges. PayPal had to get the purchase approved by the Chinese government, which isn't exactly the most hospitable to requests from American companies. There are also substantial regulatory hurdles in the US. As it turns out, some of these hurdles actually generate opportunities for startups. For example: the payments world is abuzz with Visa's acquisition of [Plaid](. Purchase price: a whopping $5.3B. Plaid's API lets financial services apps, like [Robinhood](, connect to and verify bank accounts. But countries like Germany have open banking API standards, which let developers connect to bank accounts without an intermediary. So Plaid's success is in part a consequence of the US's opaque banking environment. Many other US-based payments startups are flourishing. [Flywire]( and [Remitly]( have developed interesting technologies that make it faster and cheaper to send money around the world. They've also made believers out of investors across the country, having raised [$143 million]( and [$420 million]( in funding respectively. With US digital payments volume set to reach [$1 trillion]( in 2020, few startups are complaining. But for anyone hoping for a global version of Venmo, that possibility still remains out of reach. Hot startups hiring now 🔥 [Catsy]( - Product Information Management & Publishing for E-Commerce. [Start exploring 4 jobs](. [Plaid]( - Hiring on AngelList since 2013. Hired many early team members & still using AngelList to scale. [Start exploring 127 jobs](. [Social Nature]( - Discover, try, and review the latest better-for-you products. The 'Product Hunt' for CPG. [Start exploring 3 jobs](. [Tawkify]( - Tawkify brings the personalization of matchmaking to the masses. [Start exploring 6 jobs](. [Xihelm]( - Developing the first automated handwork robot to harvest greenhouse crops. [Start exploring 2 jobs](. [Vise AI]( - AI powered Investment Management and Intelligence for Financial Advisors [Start exploring 11 jobs](. AngelList Weekly 90 Gold St San Francisco, CA 94133 [Unsubscribe]( | [Update Preferences](