April Marcom
Plaid is an online service that connects your financial accounts to the software and apps you use to transfer funds, monitor cash flow, budget spending, manage retirement, and more.[1]
Thousands of apps, payroll services, and other financial services rely on Plaid to verify user information and log users into connected accounts to complete transactions like money transfers, direct deposits, and loans.[2]
Below, we explain more about what Plaid is, whether it’s safe to use, and how it works with Cash App.
About Plaid
Is Plaid Free?
Plaid is free to consumers — you won’t pay any fees to use it.[3]
When you use Plaid to connect your financial accounts to a service like Cash App, the app pays Plaid a small fee.[3]
Is Plaid Safe to Use?
Plaid is safe to use. It’s certified by the International Organization for Standardization, and when you connect your bank to any app through Plaid, all data is secured with encryption coding.[4]
Plaid also allows you to decide what information is shared and offers 24-hour monitoring and customer service.[5]
Which Apps Use Plaid?
Plaid powers over 6,000 financial apps and services.[6]
These include popular options like:
- Acorns
- Albert
- Avant
- Chime
- Digit
- Ellevest
- Metal
- MoneyLion
- Petal
- SoFi
- Stripe
- Varo
- Venmo
- Wise
- WorldRemit
- YNAB[2]
You can use many of these apps without using Plaid — for example, a cash advance app might give you the option to input your account number and routing number rather than using Plaid to log into your bank account.[7]
Find out more about your cash advance options (including which apps require plaid) in our research on getting your paycheck early.
How Plaid Works With Cash App
Plaid allows you to securely link your bank account to Cash App, customer service representatives for Cash App told us.
Once you’re connected, you can send available funds from your bank account to other Cash App users and cash out the money you receive in the app.[7]
Do You Have to Use Plaid on Cash App?
While Plaid does make it easy to link your bank account to Cash App, you aren’t required to use Plaid on the app.
Cash App doesn’t rely on Plaid for any of its services, so if you don’t want to use Plaid, you can input your bank account and routing number instead.[7]
What Bank Does Cash App Use for Plaid?
Cash App doesn’t use another bank for Plaid. While it offers a direct deposit account, Cash App isn’t a bank and doesn’t provide bank login credentials.[8]
Because Cash App doesn’t give you a bank username and password, you can’t connect it to Plaid as a bank account when using other apps.[7]
This can become an issue if you want to connect your Cash App funds to another service, such as Google Pay or Albert.
If the service you want to use allows you to input bank information manually, you can use your Cash App account number and routing number, found in the “Banking” tab of Cash App.[7]
If the service you want to use doesn’t allow you to input your account and routing numbers, you can transfer your Cash App funds to another account that does have login credentials compatible with Plaid, such as a traditional checking account or Chime.[7]
Linking Cash App to Plaid
Like with other peer-to-peer payment apps, you should be prompted to move forward using Plaid when it’s time to link your bank account in Cash App.[7]
As long as you successfully log into your bank account with Plaid on your mobile device, you should have no trouble connecting it with Cash App.[7]
How Does Cash App Appear on Bank Statements?
Though Cash App isn’t a bank, Cash App transactions — whether initiated with or without Plaid — will appear on your bank statements as “Cash App,” representatives for the app told us.[7]
Lindsey Desmet
Kait Scirri
Cathy Desmet
Loren Eaton
William Lipovsky