Can I Use Cash App without Plaid? [Yes, find out how] Bypass Plaid on Cash App

Cash App is a popular app that allows you to send and receive money, pay for your daily purchases and also invest. If you are a Cash App user, you would have come across the need to link your bank account using Plaid. If you are curious to know if there is any way to avoid this and use Cash App without Plaid, you are on the right post.

To answer in short to this query – “Can I use Cash App without Plaid?” the answer is “Yes, you can” and there are a few ways to do this which we will explore in this post.

You may be asked to use Plaid when attempting to cash out your Cash App funds, which prompts you to link a bank account.

Plaid helps to verify if you own the bank account by using your online banking credentials like user name and password to authenticate.

And Plaid service is widely used not only by Cash App but many other popular apps like Robinhood, Chime, Stripe, Venmo, etc. It acts as a middleman connecting fintechs and banks. It works with more than 5,000 fintechs and supports 11,000+ banks.

But many users are skeptical of sharing their credentials with a third party and it is a genuine concern. Though Plaid has emphasized on its strong controls to protect user data, it does not make every user comfortable. The question still comes to mind-Is to safe to use Plaid on Cash App.

And then there are also some few banks that do not work with Plaid.

So the question comes:

Can I Use Cash App without Plaid? Yes, you can use Cash App without Plaid by linking your bank account manually or using your bank debit card to link the bank account in Cash App.

There is also an option of not linking a bank account and withdrawing your Cash app funds using a Cash App Card at ATM. But it is not a very convenient option.

Let’s talk in detail about these ways how to use Cash App without Plaid, what are the steps involved, the pros and cons.

Can I use Cash App without Plaid? How to Bypass Plaid on Cash App

You can use the following ways to use Cash App without Plaid:

• Link your bank account manually in Cash App [Works Without Plaid]
• Link your bank debit card in Cash App [Works without Plaid]
• Not linking bank account or debit card (not recommended)

Let’s look at the details for all the ways discussed above.

Link your bank account manually in Cash App [Works without Plaid]

You can avoid using Plaid for linking your bank account and manually add your bank account in Cash App, using the bank routing number and account number. This option is available but not easily seen, given the design of the interface.

For this, follow the steps below, when prompted to add a bank account for cash out

• Tap on the Profile Icon on Cash App Home Page
• Next tap Linked Accounts or Linked Banks
• Tap Link Bank
• Now instead of selecting your bank from the list, you can type “cashapp” or “other” in the search bar
• This brings up an option the message -“Add Manually” underneath. Tap on it
• You can now enter your routing number and account number to manually link your bank account.

Cash App will then do two trial deposits to your bank account to confirm. This may take some time and is not as fast as using the Plaid verification which is almost instant.

Do take care to enter your routing number and account number correctly, so that the deposits go through successfully without any issues.

Link your bank debit card in Cash App [Works without Plaid]

Cash App also gives you the option to link your bank debit card, which you can use for cash out as well as a deposit, instead of linking your bank account. This is almost as good as linking your bank account, since adding money or pulling funds from your debit card is anyways going to come from your bank account balance. And adding your bank debit card to the Cash app does not require Plaid verification.

In fact, a debit card also allows you the advantage of instant transfer when you cash out. However, this is subject to a fee of 0.5% to 1.75% of transfer amount (minimum fee-$0.25). When you link a bank account, there are no fees for using Standard Deposit but funds arrive within 1-3 business days.

Another benefit of using a bank debit card is that you can add money to the Cash app, from such a linked debit card. This option is not available when you link only a bank account as it can only be used for cash out.

• Go to Bank Tab (building icon)
• Tap on “Add Bank” or “Linked Accounts” (if you’ve already linked an account before)
• You will get an option to add bank account using your debit card
• Enter your bank debit card details like number, expiry etc.

The debit card will be added successfully if all the details check out.

Use Cash App without linking a bank account or debit card

Without a linked payment method i.e. bank account or debit card attached to a bank account, you will NOT be able to

1. Add money to Cash App on your own, which works only when using linked bank account or debit card. You can, however, still receive money from friends on Cash App to fund your Cash App balance.
2. Cash out your Cash App balance online [to such linked bank account or debit card]. You can still withdraw your Cash App balance in cash at an ATM, with a Cash App Card
3. Pay for something in excess of the balance you hold on Cash App

So while this is an option, it is not a convenient one. The best option is link your bank account manually or use your bank debit card.

Is it safe to use Plaid with Cash App?

Plaid is a legitimate company that is working with a large network of fintechs (5000+) and banking partners (11,000+). They act as an intermediary between fintechs and banks.

There are statistics that say that at least 1 in 4 US residents use Plaid. You need a strong track record of trust to build up such a large network.

It will be a big business risk for Plaid if there is any data leak, so you can understand it will be a priority to make sure the user data they obtain and store is protected well.

That being said, as a Cash App customer, you are required to accept Plaid privacy and you need to make the call if you want to trust Plaid with your data.

You can also choose a separate bank account (different from your main bank account) where you hold a low balance to link it with Cash App, whether or not through Plaid.

You can use the above ways to use the Cash app without Plaid if you want to avoid sharing data.

Wrap Up

So if you prefer to use Cash App without Plaid, you have a bunch of options- linking your bank account manually using the routing number and account number details. Or just add the debit card of your bank account instead of linking a bank account, which gives you almost the same benefits (and even the ability to make instant transfers). If you found this article useful, do share it and post any queries you face in the comments.