How Plaid Link works, safety, and per-bank guides. For the full Plaid supported banks list, open the main directory.
Last updated: March 2026
Plaid is a financial technology layer that lets apps connect to your bank or credit union with your permission. Instead of each app building its own connections to thousands of institutions, apps integrate Plaid once and use Plaid Link—a standardized, Plaid-hosted screen—so you sign in with your bank and choose what to share.
Common uses include personal finance and budgeting, moving money, lending decisions, and verifying account ownership. For product detail, pricing, and coverage, see our Plaid API aggregator profile.
Budgeting and money apps use Plaid to verify accounts and pull balances and transactions with your consent.
Some products use Plaid for bank-linked payments, payouts, or pay-by-bank flows where supported.
Plaid offers identity and income products so businesses can verify users without storing bank passwords.
Teams integrate once with Plaid’s APIs to reach many institutions instead of building separate bank connections.
Plaid payments is not a single product. In the US it covers Plaid Transfer (ACH origination), Signal (return-risk scoring), and Auth (account verification before payment). In the UK and EU it covers Pay by Bank — Plaid acting as a regulated Payment Initiation Service Provider (PISP) under PSD2 so the customer authorises a Faster Payments or SEPA Instant transfer directly in their bank app, with no card-network or ACH leg.
Plaid Transfer lets businesses originate ACH debits and credits through Plaid as the rails partner, bundled with account verification and risk-scoring. Same-day ACH is supported where the receiving bank participates; next-day and standard ACH are the default settlement options. Sits next to Auth (account & routing numbers) and Signal (return-risk score), so a single Plaid integration covers verify → score → move money for US bank-to-bank flows.
Signal is the ML risk score Plaid returns before an ACH debit is originated, predicting the likelihood that the debit will be returned (NSF, account closed, unauthorised). Sits in front of Plaid Transfer or any external ACH processor — businesses use Signal to decide whether to debit immediately, hold for settlement, or block the transaction. Available on US bank accounts linked via Plaid Link.
In the UK and EU, Plaid is a regulated Payment Initiation Service Provider (PISP) under PSD2. Customers authorise a payment in their bank app (Faster Payments in the UK, SEPA Instant or SEPA Credit Transfer in the EU); the funds move directly bank-to-bank, with no card-network or ACH leg. Used for account top-ups, bill pay, and high-value commerce checkouts where card fees or chargebacks are a problem.
Auth returns the verified account and routing (or sort code / IBAN) numbers from the user’s bank, used by external payment processors to set up ACH, SEPA, or Faster Payments debits. Often paired with Identity to satisfy KYC and with Signal to gate high-risk debits. Available in every region Plaid operates in; Auth is the most common Plaid product behind embedded payment flows that do not use Plaid Transfer.
For the full regional capability matrix (Transactions, Identity, Investments, Liabilities, and the payments products above) see the Plaid product matrix on the main directory page.
Plaid publishes SOC 2 and other assurance work; connections rely on encryption and least-privilege access. Always review which app you are linking and what data you approve. More detail on safety and products is on the main Plaid page and in the FAQ below.
Plaid supports 9706+ banks. Open the full searchable Plaid supported banks directory, or browse all providers.
Full Plaid bank listBrowse all providersPlaid is a financial technology company that provides APIs and a consumer linking flow (Plaid Link) so apps can connect to users’ bank and credit accounts with permission. It acts as an intermediary: your login is handled in a secure Plaid flow, and the app receives tokens—not your password—to request allowed data.
Plaid uses encryption for data in transit and at rest, undergoes security audits, and offers a consumer portal (my.plaid.com) to see and revoke connections. You should only connect accounts through apps you trust; Plaid’s role is to broker secure, consent-based access.
Plaid supports a large and growing network of banks and credit unions. For the full searchable Plaid supported banks list with coverage counts, use our main Plaid directory page; this hub focuses on how Plaid Link works and per-bank connection guides.
In an app that uses Plaid, choose to add or link a bank account, then complete Plaid Link: select your institution, authenticate with your bank, and approve the data you want to share. You can revoke access later from the app or via Plaid’s consumer portal.
No. Plaid does not hand your bank password to third-party apps. Authentication happens in Plaid’s flow; apps typically receive access tokens scoped to what you approved, not your credentials.
Use my.plaid.com to see connections and revoke them, or disconnect from within each app’s bank-linking or security settings. Revoking removes that app’s access through Plaid for that link.
Developers register with Plaid, use Plaid’s APIs (for example Link, Transactions, Auth) in sandbox then production, and handle webhooks and compliance for their use case. For a broader comparison of aggregator APIs, see the Open Banking API guide and the full Plaid profile in our API aggregators directory.
Yes. The searchable Plaid supported banks list with institution counts lives on our main Plaid directory page. This page adds Plaid Link explainers, safety notes, and bank-by-bank guides. For Plaid’s official catalog, see Plaid’s documentation.
Thousands of banks and credit unions work with Plaid in supported countries; availability depends on the app, product (e.g. transactions vs. identity), and region. Search the main Plaid supported banks directory for your institution, or open the Plaid apps page to see common consumer products that rely on Plaid.
Many digital-first banks and neobanks that operate where Plaid is available can be linked through Plaid Link if the institution is on Plaid’s network. Search the main supported-banks directory; below you can open per-bank guides when we publish them. If an app says your bank is unsupported, that may be product-specific even when Plaid lists the bank.
Hundreds of fintech and enterprise apps use Plaid for linking, identity, or payments. See our dedicated page listing example apps and categories that integrate with Plaid, alongside alternatives and competitor comparisons.
"Plaid payments" refers to Plaid’s payment products rather than a single SKU. In the US it means Plaid Transfer (ACH origination) paired with Auth (account verification) and Signal (return-risk score). In the UK and EU it means Pay by Bank — Plaid acting as a regulated Payment Initiation Service Provider (PISP) so the customer authorises a Faster Payments or SEPA Instant transfer directly inside their bank app, with no card or ACH leg.
Yes, via Plaid Transfer in the US. Plaid Transfer originates ACH debits and credits through Plaid as the rails partner, bundled with Auth for account verification and Signal for return-risk scoring. Same-day ACH is supported where the receiving bank participates; next-day and standard ACH are the default settlement windows. ACH is US-only — for SEPA or Faster Payments equivalents in the EU and UK, see Plaid’s Pay by Bank (Payment Initiation Services).
In the UK and EU yes, through Pay by Bank — payments settle near-instantly on Faster Payments (UK) and SEPA Instant Credit Transfer (EU) rails. In the US Plaid does not natively originate on RTP or FedNow; Plaid Transfer uses same-day ACH as its fastest US settlement window. For US instant rails, integrators typically pair Plaid Auth with a separate RTP/FedNow processor.
Yes. Plaid is a regulated Payment Initiation Service Provider (PISP) under PSD2 in the UK and EU. Customers authorise a payment from inside their bank app and the funds move directly bank-to-bank — Faster Payments in the UK, SEPA Instant or SEPA Credit Transfer in the EU. There is no card network or ACH leg, which is why pay-by-bank is used for account top-ups, bill pay, and high-value commerce checkouts.