Financial technology company Plaid has announced the expansion of Layer, its instant financial onboarding solution, aiming to support users through optimal digital experiences.
Initially, Plaid rolled out Layer to respond to market demand for efficient and simplified digital experiences, intending to meet the needs of users, regardless of whether they were ordering food, signing up for a new app, or opening a financial account. The solution enables onboarding for companies ranging from startups to large fintech firms, allowing them to onboard users more effectively.
Launching Layer Extended Autofill
Until this announcement, Layer provided a near-instant onboarding experience for users who were part of the Plaid Network. According to Plaid, since 2024, the solution has accelerated onboarding for over one million users and now includes more than 40 million remembered customers with full identity and linked financial accounts.
The decision to expand Layer follows increased demand from customers who wanted to accelerate onboarding for more users, with Plaid responding to this need by adding autofill into the service. Through this, the benefits of Layer can be extended to the majority of US consumers by minimising manual data entry and optimising the first-time user onboarding experience.
Now, Plaid’s customers can speed up their onboarding, whether or not they have used Plaid before. When a new user enters the onboarding flow, Layer verifies if they are a returning customer and meets the company’s requirements. If they do, they are directed through the same fast Layer experience, and, if not, the solution authenticates the device and pulls identity data from regulated sources in real time. Before finalising the process, the user needs to confirm the information. The onboarding happens within Layer’s UI, supported by real-time risk checks, including device identification and mobile carrier checks.
Recently, the FDIC issued new guidelines confirming that banks can use pre-filled identity data to meet Customer Identification Program (CIP) requirements, as long as users review and approve the data. According to Plaid, this shift underlines the core principles behind Layer Extended Autofill, namely secure identity retrieval, user transparency, and compliance-oriented orchestration.
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