Fintechs like Plaid have a “responsibility” to delay returning to the office, says CEO Zach Perret

As pressure grows on many businesses to race back to the office to restart the economy, Plaid CEO Zach Perret called on fintechs to adopt a slow return approach at the AltFi Digital Summit 2020 last week.

“I’d advocate for fintech as a whole to think about being slow in the return to the office, to allow public transit to be something that more essential businesses are able to take advantage of,” he said on Friday.

Plaid, which is in the process of being acquired by Visa in a $5.3bn deal announced in January, has been “surprisingly efficient” in working from home according to the CEO.

Just this week the business launched Plaid Exchange, an API-in-a-box that lets banks access more of Plaid’s services with less time and money spent on integration.

“I do think in some sense businesses that are efficient from home have a responsibility to not crowd our public space and not crowd our transit system, so from that standpoint I’m a proponent of being slow and measured in our return,” Perret added.

“I hope that other technology businesses that don’t require an office and [those] interactions will follow our lead here.”

Looking at the long-term impact on coronavirus on the fintech sector, Perret said across his clients he’s seen a huge surge in adoption matched with a net decline in overall revenue as a result of revenue-generating avenues like interchange fees slowing down.

“I actually suspect we’ve found a new normal,” the CEO said. “Fast-forward six months we’ve reached a new plateau of people who are willing to use digital financial products, and that will have massive benefits for years to come.”

Watch the full AltFi Digital Summit interview with Plaid CEO Zach Perret: