Visa Acquires Pismo for $1 Billion: A Game Changer for Financial Technology
Eight years ago, Daniela Binatti co-founded Pismo with a mission to provide more agile core technology to the financial services industry. Fast forward to January, and credit card giant Visa purchased the core banking fintech for a whopping $1 billion.
Building a Modern Fintech Platform
Since launching Pismo in 2016, Binatti, who is the Chief Technology Officer (CTO), has focused on building a platform for financial institutions and payments clients. Having two decades of experience in tech, Binatti saw a need for replacing outdated systems with cloud-native core banking and card-issuer processing services.
"The whole financial service industry understands that the solutions in use are outdated, and the maintenance cost impedes continuing as it is," Binatti said. "But I don't believe in throwing everything away and starting from scratch. I think the best and most effective way is to choose platforms that provide the tools to transform systems piece by piece."
Evolution in the Financial Services Industry
Binatti believes it's not a matter of if but when banks will replace their core infrastructure. Many financial institutions don't have platforms capable of managing new technologies like artificial intelligence (AI). The transition to modern solutions will require resilience and business leaders stepping out of their comfort zones. Still, the financial services industry is "in evolution" as customer expectations continue to rise.
Challenges and Achievements
Starting Pismo was the most challenging project Binatti had taken on. However, the company has significantly improved agility, cost reduction, and flexibility from its first lines of code, helping banks stay competitive. Binatti is also proud that Pismo has expanded accessibility to financial institutions by creating lower-cost options for bank products.
The Visa Acquisition
The latest milestone for Pismo is its acquisition by Visa. Binatti played a key role in the negotiations, demonstrating to Visa how Pismo's modular platform could be used to meet new clients globally. Despite the new ownership, Binatti continues in her role, steering the technology development at Pismo.
Key Takeaways:
- Pismo was co-founded by Daniela Binatti in 2016 to modernize financial technology.
- Visa acquired Pismo for $1 billion in January.
- Binatti emphasizes updating systems piece by piece rather than starting from scratch.
- Artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies require new infrastructure.
- The fintech industry is evolving to meet rising customer expectations.
- Pismo has made significant contributions to agility, cost reduction, and flexibility for banks.
- Binatti continues to lead Pismo’s technology development post-acquisition by Visa.
In sum, the acquisition of Pismo by Visa marks a significant development in the financial technology sector, showcasing the necessity of modern, adaptable tech solutions.
