While it’s true that not very many people are aware of Plaid due to its behind-the-scenes usage. Plaid connects to your accounts in order for software providers like Venmo or Robinhood to function properly. With all types of sensitive information being passed around these days, especially financial data, security has become one of the most pressing issues in relation to technology.
What is Plaid?
Plaid acts as an intermediary link between your bank account and financial apps. It takes the logins you provide, encrypts the data requested (such as an account balance), and then supplies it to any application with a secure connection. It reorganizes your login data to protect you from online hackers, only sharing information that you are aware of. Plaid provides a way for consumers and merchants to seamlessly link their accounts with over 3,000 different financial services without compromising security or control. It does this by using its secure API development platform called Masked Card Service.
With the Plaid API, developers can link bank accounts safely and quickly. This is done by requesting keys from Plaid and creating a free account to use these keys for linking financial information. The end result is an application that links up bank accounts seamlessly with no strings attached.
Is Plaid Safe?
Yes, Plaid is safe to use. Plaid uses some of the most advanced security and encryption methods available to safely connect your bank account to outside organizations.
How Secure is Plaid?
Plaid is very secure. They rely on some of the following technology in order to upkeep their strict security protocols:
- MFA, or multi-factor authentication, is a way to keep your account’s login safe. It also prevents any unauthorized logins by using 2 or more factors to authenticate you.
- Data encryption can protect information to be safe from all areas of the transaction: banks, applications, and customers. Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) is used for any stored data, and Transport Layer Security (TLS) protects all data that is in transit between apps.
- Plaid Security Testing doesn’t leave anything to chance by using independent security testing. The company uses outside testing and a bug bounty program to ensure their platform stays ironclad.
- Plaid provides cloud infrastructure that was built with security in mind and utilizes the security technologies that have developed over decades to provide flexible and responsive protection.
How Plaid Secures Your Info
With Plaid, you can control every single detail of your personal information. You decide what access Plaid will give to applications including:
- Balances
- Account and Routing Numbers
- Transactions
- Student Loans
- Account profile information
- Investment holdings
- Credit card balance and interest rates
Also, Plaid’s privacy policy states that they will not sell or share your personal information. They only use it to provide you with the service you requested.
Why Plaid Asks to Connect to Your Bank
Plaid creates a secure connection between financial institutions and the applications that need financial information. It does this by linking with your bank account, which allows it to pull out data for you without exposing sensitive information. Plaid may pull out things like balances or numbers for deposits or withdrawals.
Apps and Businesses That Use Plaid
- Acorns
- Betterment
- You Need a Budget
- Robinhood
- Upstart
- Dave
- Pillar
- Venmo
- Coinbase
- Carvana
- EllieMae
It’s possible that any application you use to connect to your bank or credit accounts is using Plaid. It’s not just safe, but also reliable and is designed for customers who want seamless financial access. With its safe and secure connections, it’s likely that many more applications will be utilizing Plaid in the future.