Does Current Work With Plaid? How to Connect Securely
Understand how Current integrates with Plaid to power your financial apps, ensuring secure and seamless data connections.
Current is a financial technology platform offering mobile banking services, while Plaid connects various financial accounts to a wide array of applications. Current accounts can be linked through Plaid, allowing users to connect their banking information to thousands of financial technology applications. This integration expands the utility of a Current account, enabling its use across a broader digital financial ecosystem.
Connecting Current to Plaid-Powered Applications
Connecting a Current account to an application that utilizes Plaid involves a straightforward process, typically initiated within the third-party application itself. When linking a bank account within a budgeting app, investment platform, or other financial service, users will find an option to search for their financial institution. Begin by searching for “Current” in the provided list of banks, rather than the name of Current’s banking partner.
Once Current is selected, the Plaid interface prompts for authentication, requiring the user’s phone number associated with their Current account. A multi-factor authentication code, such as a 7-digit SMS code, will then be sent to this number for verification. After entering the code, a screen will display the active Current accounts, from which the individual Current account should be chosen to establish the connection. This secure process allows the third-party application to access necessary financial data without directly handling the user’s banking credentials.
Common Services That Integrate
The integration of Current with Plaid opens access to various categories of financial services and applications. Many budgeting and personal finance management tools, such as YNAB and Rocket Money, leverage Plaid to sync transaction data and help users track spending.
Investment and trading platforms also use Plaid for funding purposes, allowing users to connect their Current accounts to services like Acorns or Robinhood to deposit funds. Peer-to-peer payment applications, including Venmo and Cash App, use Plaid for linking bank accounts to facilitate transfers.
Additionally, lending services, credit monitoring platforms, and certain tax preparation software may integrate with Plaid to verify income or account information. This broad connectivity enhances the functionality of a Current account across diverse financial management needs.
Protecting Your Financial Data
Protecting financial data is important when connecting accounts through third-party services like Plaid. Plaid employs security measures, including data encryption, both when information is in transit and when it is stored. This means sensitive data is encrypted using advanced standards, making it difficult to access without authorization.
Plaid operates on a read-only basis, meaning it can access and share financial data with authorized applications but does not have the ability to move money or initiate transactions from a user’s account. Users also maintain control over their connections and can manage or revoke access to linked applications through the Plaid Portal. Plaid acts as an intermediary, which means it does not store banking credentials directly after the initial connection, instead relying on tokens for ongoing data exchange.