Why We Use Plaid

What is Plaid?

Plaid is a financial technology company that securely connects apps like OneBudget to your bank accounts. Instead of building our own connection to every bank (there are thousands), we use Plaid's established, secure infrastructure.

Why Plaid?

Industry Standard

Plaid connects over 12,000 financial institutions and is used by apps you probably already trust:

Venmo
Robinhood
Coinbase
Chime
Betterment
And many more

Bank-Level Security

Plaid uses the same encryption standards as banks:

256-bit encryption
SOC 2 Type II certified
Regular security audits
Multi-factor authentication support

Your Credentials Stay Safe

When you connect your bank through Plaid:

You enter your credentials directly with Plaid
OneBudget never sees your username or password
Plaid creates a secure token for data access
That token only allows transaction reading—not transfers

What Data Does Plaid Share?

When you connect through Plaid, OneBudget receives:

✅ Transaction history
✅ Account balances
✅ Account names and types
✅ Merchant information

We do not receive:

❌ Your bank login credentials
❌ Your full account numbers
❌ The ability to move money
❌ Access to other linked services

Can I Disconnect?

Yes, absolutely. You can disconnect your bank at any time:

Go to Settings → Accounts
Tap the account you want to remove
Tap Remove Account

You can also revoke access directly through Plaid's portal at my.plaid.com.

Plaid vs. Screen Scraping

Some older apps use "screen scraping"—logging in as you and reading your bank's website. This is less secure because:

They store your actual credentials
They break when banks update their sites
Banks actively block this behavior

Plaid uses official bank APIs when available, which is more secure and reliable.

Questions About Plaid?

Visit Plaid's Consumer Portal to:

See which apps have access to your data
Revoke access to any app
Learn more about how Plaid works