Speaking from Plaid’s New York office last week, where the startup is sandwiched in a Kushner-owned SoHo office building between OpenAI and Thrive Capital, Perret told me that we’re currently in a “fintech spring,” with flowers (which, I guess in this metaphor, are M&A deals) starting to bud. “It’s still early,” Perret said. “We’re not yet in summer, but it’s a cyclical business.”

The thawing regulatory environment is behind the season change. Plaid might not be in the market for a merger anymore—at its current size, an IPO is more likely, with Perret hinting at a public offering in the next few years. “That’s certainly the direction we want to go,” he told me, calling the failed Visa deal a “blessing in disguise.”

Source: FORTUNE