Connect a bank from your phone

You can connect a US bank or card without a computer. Ask your AI for the bank link, open it on your phone, and finish the bank sign-in on Plaid's own page. Pennyweight then pulls in your transactions.

This page covers what's different on a phone. For the full flow, see connect a US bank or card.

How to do it

1. Turn on two-factor first. Pennyweight won't connect a bank without it. See turn on two-factor authentication.
2. Ask your AI for the bank link. If you have more than one ledger, name the one the bank belongs in. Your AI gives you a link to the Connect your bank page in the Pennyweight web app.
3. Open the link in your phone's browser. Sign in to Pennyweight if the browser asks. On a phone, the page sends you straight to Plaid's page. You don't tap anything first.
4. Sign in to your bank on Plaid's page. Plaid runs this part, not Pennyweight.
5. Let Plaid send you back. You return to the Connect your bank page. It shows Securing the connection…, then Pulling your transactions…, then Connected, and moves you to Settings → Accounts.
6. Go back to your AI and ask it to check. It can list your bank connections and their status.

What you'll see

Your AI replies with the link and a note to finish in a browser and come back. It can't complete the connection inside the chat.

When you come back from Plaid, Pennyweight may ask you to unlock first. After you unlock, it returns you to the Connect your bank page and finishes the connection.

Once the connection is done, your AI can show the bank with its status and last sync time.

Good to know

• If you leave Plaid without finishing, Plaid still sends you back. After a short wait, the page shows the Connect with Plaid button again with no error. Tap it to start over.
• Plaid's page expires. Pennyweight asks Plaid for a page that lasts 30 minutes. If it lapses, open the bank link again.
• Your AI's link is the same on a phone and a computer. The page picks the phone flow itself.
• Reconnecting also uses Plaid's page. When a bank needs you to sign in again, the reconnect on a phone sends you to Plaid's page and back, the same way. See reconnect a bank.
• No warning for a bank you already connected. On a phone, connecting a bank that's already connected in the same ledger ends on Connected. Check Settings → Accounts before you add a bank twice.
• Which ledger gets the bank. Your AI puts a ledger in the link: the one you name, or else the ledger it's working in. If the ledger it's working in is a demo ledger or no longer exists, the link uses your default ledger instead, and your AI can tell you which ledger the bank goes into. The page saves the link's ledger for that browser tab before it sends you to Plaid, so the new accounts land in that ledger when you come back. If that ledger was deleted after your AI made the link, a new tab puts the bank in your default ledger.
• Bank linking works for US banks and cards only. To bring in a statement from your phone instead, see import a statement from your phone.