Is it safe to link my bank?
Exactly what Plaid sees, what Vault sees, and why your password is never exposed to us.
It is a fair question to ask before connecting anything to your bank. Here is the honest, complete picture of how linking works in Vault.
When you link a bank, Plaid's own secure Link screen opens and you enter your bank credentials there. Vault never sees, receives, or stores your bank username or password. That is by design.
What each party sees
- Plaid sees the bank credentials you enter on its screen, and your transactions, balances, and (for credit cards and loans) liability details.
- A lightweight relay server holds the secure access token that lets Plaid fetch your data, and passes transactions through to your device. The token stays on the server, never on your phone.
- Vault, on your device, receives the resulting transactions and balances and stores them locally.
The relay only handles bank tokens and transactions. It never receives your AI-coach chats, your category corrections, your goals, or your behavioral patterns. Those stay on your device.
Plaid is widely used by major financial apps to connect to banks securely. When you link an account, Plaid's privacy policy applies to the bank connection it provides.
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