If you are attempting to link your bank account to a financial service using Plaid verification, you may have come across the issue : Plaid Bank Verification Not Working. This is a common error that is faced by many users when connecting their bank account via Plaid. In this guide, we will dig into the reasons and the potential solutions for this issue.
Plaid is a service that helps you link financial apps to financial institutions. It acts as the pipeline that enables users to link their bank accounts to financial apps using their online banking credentials as a way of authentication.
Currently, Plaid has a huge network of apps and banks –it is connected with more than 3000 apps and 11,000+ banks or financial institutions. As per Plaid, about 1 in every 4 people in US have used Plaid to connect their financial accounts.
However, not all banks support Plaid and even for existing connections, there are connectivity issues that can happen from time to time.
This is one of the major reasons for Plaid bank verification not working issue.
So let’s go into the details of all possible reasons and look into some of the potential solutions that you can explore when facing this issue.
Plaid Bank Verification Not Working Reasons
The common reasons for Plaid Verification Not Working Issue are:
- You have recently changed your online bank credentials
- Your Bank is not supported or limiting access to Plaid
- Temporary technical issues with your Bank
- Temporary issues with Plaid network
Recent change of online bank credentials
Many times when you have an existing bank linked to an app via Plaid, you may still face the issue of the app loosing connection with your bank account.,
This can happen many times as you may have recently changed the username and password associated with your bank account, that was originally used to set up the Plaid connection.
In such situations, first confirm the latest username and password on your bank website or mobile app. Then try re-connecting your bank account via Plaid with the new confirmed credentials.
Your Bank is not supported or limiting access to Plaid
Some banks are yet not on Plaid network e.g. Regions Bank. This may either be due to logistical difficulties in integrating with Plaid or could be an issue that bank may not want to connect with Plaid citing security concerns.
The issue could also be app specific or temporary connectivity issues.
This issue has been faced by many users of PNC Bank, Capital One and even Chase bank in the past.
In such cases, it is best to check with the bank customer support to confirm this and then try linking with alternate banks that work with Plaid.
You can also check if the financial app gives you the option to link bank account manually without using Plaid e.g. Cash App gives you the option to link bank account manually without Plaid using bank routing number and account number.
Temporary technical issues with your bank
Sometimes banks will go for temporary maintenance or server upgrade. During these times, there may be connectivity issues with Plaid.
This is usually announced in advance by the concerned bank or it can also be adhoc. However, the issue gets resolved by waiting for some time and then re-attempting to connect via Plaid.
Temporary issues with Plaid network
Although rare there can be issues with Plaid network on a given day. Plaid also has a status checker URL on their website-https://status.plaid.com/ which can be used to confirm if they are experiencing any such network issues.
The Plaid service is also active on their Twitter Handle to confirm.
Many times this issue may be limited to the particular financial app or bank you are attempting to link on.
In such cases, you can only attempt to wait or try seeing if you can add bank account outside of Plaid manually using the routing number/account number associated with your bank account or by using your bank debit card.
Wrap Up
With the increasing number of banks and apps on Plaid network, it can be frustrating to experience the issue of Plaid not working or connecting with bank account. However, you can always consider the alternative ways of linking bank account manually or using bank debit card on apps which support it.
