Plaid Headquarters

Plaid provides the technology that enables consumers and businesses to securely share data from their financial accounts with software applications. Here, Mr. Oxier attempted to share data from his non-profit entity’s bank account with a software application called Network for Good, which uses Plaid’s technology to facilitate data sharing of this sort. In Mr. Oxier’s case, the data Plaid shared from the entity’s bank account with Network for Good reflected that Mr. Oxier himself—and not the non-profit entity—was the owner of the account. Mr. Oxier contacted Plaid to inform us that, because the data shared with Network for Good did not reflect the name of the non-profit entity, he was unable to successfully access services via Network for Good.After Mr. Oxier contacted Plaid, we promptly investigated the issue. We determined that the data Plaid transmitted to Network for Good accurately reflected data associated with the non-profit entity’s bank account. However, Plaid’s data-sharing technology returns only one name associated with any given bank account; not multiple names. As such, Plaid provided Network for Good with one name associated with the account—Mr. Oxier’s name—when Mr. Oxier expected that the non-profit entity’s name would also—or instead—be shared. Plaid’s technology connects programmatically with banks, and therefore we cannot choose or select which name we share on a case-by-case basis; the name Plaid shares is determined automatically by a combination of factors, including the bank and account type. Plaid did not transmit inaccurate data to Network for Good, but instead transmitted data more limited in scope than what Mr. Oxier had expected through his interactions with Network for Good. After Mr. Oxier contacted Plaid, we immediately reached out to Network for Good to ensure that there were alternative mechanisms in place to manually verify account ownership in situations where Plaid is not able to return the expected name. Network for Good informed us that they had already resolved this issue with Mr. Oxier.We believe the issue has been resolved to the satisfaction of Mr. Oxier, but to the extent further follow-up with Network for Good is needed, we would be happy to help facilitate further dialogue.

As we explained in our initial response to Mr. Oxier and the Revdex.com, the information Plaid transmitted to the Network for Good app at Mr. Oxier’s request was neither inaccurate nor incorrect. We’ve provided additional context below to further explain why there were no “errors” in Plaid’s systems that caused Mr. Oxier’s difficulty in accessing Network for Good’s services. Plaid retrieved and transmitted data from Kemba Credit Union’s online banking system to Network for Good, as requested by Mr. Oxier. In the case of this integration, Plaid retrieved the “name” data for the owner of the online banking profile (Mr. Oxier), not for each individual account within that profile. This is because Plaid’s Identity product provides a single name associated with the online banking profile for each financial institution connected by an end user; we do not supply a name for each individual account within that profile. This is the behavior apps like Network for Good expect when they use Plaid products.In this case, the nonprofit entity, Arrowhead Reptile Rescue, has a business checking account within Mr. Oxier’s online banking profile with Kemba Credit Union. This is not unexpected, given that Mr. Oxier is the Director and Founder of Arrowhead Reptile Rescue. Plaid did not supplement or replace the name on the business checking account with Mr. Oxier’s name; rather, consistent with its standard practice, Plaid obtained Mr. Oxier’s name from his online banking profile at Kemba Credit Union.On 2/19/20, we received Mr. Oxier’s complaint (dated 2/14/20) from the Revdex.com, and we immediately reached out to Network for Good to ensure that there were alternative mechanisms in place for Network for Good to manually verify account ownership where the identity data Plaid extracts from the bank reflects an individual’s name instead of a business name. On 2/27/20, we spoke with Network for Good, and they informed us that they are well aware of this issue. In fact, they told us that this issue occurs in approximately 2% of cases, and that they already have a procedure in place to manually verify accounts as a work-around in such circumstances. Network for Good further informed us that they initiated this manual procedure to verify Arrowhead Reptile Rescue’s financial data on 2/3/20, when Mr. Oxier’s name was returned via the Plaid connection. According to Network For Good, they received supplemental documentation from Mr. Oxier on 2/14/20, and Arrowhead Reptile Rescue’s accounts were fully approved and verified by their team as of 2/18/20. In sum, given that Plaid transmitted accurate financial data to Network for Good, and given that Network for Good already had procedures in place to verify account ownership in these circumstances, this complaint has been resolved and no further action is warranted.