Manually linking your bank account to financial services apps can be a hassle. Conveniently, there are FinTech companies like Plaid that offers to do that for you. But, is it really safe to use? In this video, Josh walks us through Plaid, the services it offers, and other options that may be available.
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Financial technology has become an integral part of our lives. In fact, if you’ve connected your bank to any other kind of service, chances are you’ve used Plaid.
So, without us knowing it, we most likely have already shared our personal information to Plaid. So, what is Plaid? More importantly, is Plaid safe to use?
What is Plaid?
Plaid is a financial technology company that acts as a middle man between your bank and any other financial services applications.
So, instead of giving out your financial information to EVERY application, you can just share it to Plaid. Usually this means giving them your bank login information and providing the permissions for them to download data such as:
- Account numbers
- Account names
- Account balances (credit, checking, loan, savings, etc.)
- Personal information (name, address, email, phone)
The company will then protect and manage your information by (supposedly) only giving out what is necessary to the apps who request it.
Is Plaid Safe To Use?
This question can’t be answered by a simple yes or no. But considering that the company has not been hacked and no data have been leaked, I’d have to say that…
Yes, plaid is safe… so far.
I have to point out though that the company has recently faced a lawsuit over the alleged collection of more information than what was needed. While Plaid did not admit to any wrongdoing, they did agree to delete some data, minimize new data, and give user more data control.
Are There Other Options?
Yes, there is. Instead of using Plaid, you can do the following:
- Manually link your bank account. This requires much less information than what Plaid retrieves.
- Connect your debit card. This allows users to have more control on their data.
Should YOU use Plaid?
Here’s the reality: PLAID equals convenience, NO PLAID equals inconvenience.
In fact, there are certain apps that won’t automatically pull your transactions unless you’re using Plaid.
In the end, it all comes down to the decision that YOU have to make between privacy and convenience and the balance between the two.
If you’re interested to learn more about the latest online privacy tips, make sure to read the secret truths VPNs don’t want you to know.
