Dive Brief:

• Plaid has hired Brian Dammeir as its head of Europe, according to a Tuesday blog post by the company’s COO, Eric Sager. Dammeir comes to Plaid from Dutch fintech Adyen, where he had worked for more than eight years, most recently as global head of unified commerce. 
• Dammeir’s hiring is meant to help San Francisco-based Plaid expand its share of the European market, according to the blog post. Plaid has been in the U.K. and Europe since 2019 and established offices in both London and Amsterdam.
• “Brian comes with a strong product background, having held several roles at Adyen … driving Adyen’s global expansion in payments, platforms and broader financial products,” Sager said in the blog post.

Dive Insight:

Plaid offers technology that allows fintech apps to retrieve bank account data and initiate payments. That sharing of financial data is part of a movement called “open banking,” and is meant to promote competition and innovation in financial services.

Beyond financial data, payments has been a big focus for Plaid. Payment volumes on the platform have climbed more than 90% in the U.K. this year, according to a report by financial news outlet CNBC. 

Dammeir sees opportunities for Plaid’s payments business to grow in Europe, particularly in account-to-account payments, he said in a Wednesday interview.

“There's two things happening at once: There's regulation happening, which is sort of standardizing and opening up the space and really allowing for account-to-account payments,” Dammeir said. “But then next to that, we see a lot of interest on the consumer side in this area and a lot of comfort, and growing comfort, with paying directly with your bank.”

He echoed those sentiments on Tuesday, in a LinkedIn post. “European regulations have created the most open, dynamic financial ecosystem on the planet,” Dammeir said. “Are you interested in open banking, finance, or account-to-account payments in Europe, US, and Canada? If so, get in touch!”

Adyen encountered some difficulties earlier this year. Its stock dropped sharply in August when it reported slower sales, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal. Leadership scaled back goals for profitability and sales growth earlier this month, which restored investor confidence to the tune of a 36% rise in shares.

Plaid, which is privately held, was last valued at $13.4 billion by investors in a funding round, according to the CNBC report.