Zachary Perret on open banking regulation, payment modernization, and how Silicon Valley's DC relationship has transformed in 7 years
May 1, 2025 with Zachary Perret
Key Points
- Plaid CEO Zachary Perret identifies three live regulatory priorities in Washington: stablecoin regulation via the Genius Act, Section 1033 open banking rules under review for possible modification, and federal payments modernization to replace paper checks costing $5-$10 each to issue and process.
- The density of tech CEO engagement in Washington has transformed dramatically in seven years, with Silicon Valley now maintaining sustained policy teams and encountering senior officials routinely in DC buildings.
- Plaid built a four-to-five person Washington policy team years ago on the conviction that open banking regulation would eventually arrive, validating an early bet on regulatory change.
Summary
Zachary Perret, CEO of Plaid, identifies three live financial regulation priorities in Washington right now.
The Genius Act, covering stablecoin regulation, appears to be moving, though Perret says he doesn't track the day-to-day details. Section 1033 of Dodd-Frank, the open banking rule finalized under the Biden administration, is under review, with the current administration signaling possible modifications before it fully takes effect. The third is payments modernization — partly catalyzed by DOGE — focused on moving the federal government off paper checks. Perret puts the fully loaded cost of a single paper check at $5–$10 to issue and another $5–$10 for the bank to process, making the case that digitizing government payments would generate meaningful net savings, not just speed.
DC engagement
Plaid has maintained a four-to-five person DC policy team for years, built on the early conviction that open banking regulation would eventually arrive. Perret says he made his first Washington trip roughly seven years ago at the suggestion of Plaid's first business development hire, who had worked in a prior administration.
The contrast with today is stark. The volume of tech CEOs in DC, the size of industry forums, and the casual density of senior encounters — Perret mentions walking into a building and passing a major public company CEO in the lobby — would have been unthinkable eight years ago. He frames the shift as a two-sided move: Silicon Valley showing willingness to engage, and the current administration actively creating forums to facilitate the conversation.