The news: Plaid was valued at $8 billion after its latest funding round, per Bloomberg.

The firm raised funds to give employees extra liquidity for their shares in the company, per a private source.

Why this matters: After JPMorgan moved to a fee model for access to consumer financial information, firms like Plaid looked like they were in trouble. 

These fintechs’ business models were built on free access to data, and even after negotiations with JPMorgan, Plaid’s added costs could be as high as $300 million, per Forbes. But the fintech’s $8 billion valuation signals that it is financially stronger than anticipated, even after it decided to absorb fee costs instead of passing them along to consumers.

Plaid may be finding new revenue streams with deals like its credit score partnership with FICO. Demand is ample enough that fellow fintech Cash App is selling its proprietary alternative credit model.

Implications for fintechs: Plaid’s valuation suggests that fintechs can continue to thrive under recent policy shakeups with careful business model adjustments. 

Taking advantage of tech nimbleness where banks have historically faltered—demonstrating their value to banks as much as they do to consumers—could open up new revenue streams.