The Plaid API

Name: The Plaid API API
Brand: The Plaid API
Availability: InStock

✓ Official Vendor SpecFinanceBankingapiKey308 EndpointsREST

For Agents

Link bank accounts, retrieve transactions, verify balances, and pull identity data from 12,000+ financial institutions through a unified interface.

Quickstart

Get started with The Plaid API in minutes using your preferred integration method.

# Add to your MCP client config (Claude Desktop, Cursor, Windsurf)
{
  "jentic": {
    "url": "https://api.jentic.com/mcp",
    "auth": "oauth"
  }
}

# Then ask your agent:
"retrieve bank account transactions"

# → Jentic returns the GET /events tool with parameter schema, agent executes.

Capabilities

What an agent can do with The Plaid API API.

Link consumer bank accounts via tokenised OAuth handshake without handling raw credentials

Pull normalised transaction history across checking, savings, and credit accounts

Verify account ownership and real-time balances for payment initiation

Detect recurring income streams and expense patterns from transaction feeds

GET STARTED

Start building with The Plaid API API

Explore with Jentic

View OpenAPI Document

Use Cases

Patterns agents use The Plaid API API for, with concrete tasks.

★ AI Agent Bank Account Integration

AI agents use Plaid through Jentic to programmatically link bank accounts, retrieve transaction data, and verify balances without managing institution-specific OAuth flows. The agent searches for the operation it needs, loads the schema, and executes — Jentic handles credential isolation and token refresh. Typical agent workflows include pulling transaction feeds for categorisation, checking balances before initiating transfers, and verifying account ownership.

Create a link token for a new user, exchange the public token after bank selection, then retrieve the last 7 days of transactions from the linked account

Transaction Aggregation and Categorisation

Pull normalised transaction data from linked bank accounts across 12,000+ institutions. Plaid returns merchant name, amount, date, category, and location for each transaction. Transaction sync endpoints provide incremental updates without re-fetching full history, reducing bandwidth and latency for applications that poll frequently. Supports filtering by date range and account type.

Call /transactions/sync with the stored cursor to retrieve only new transactions since the last poll, then return the merchant name and amount for each

Identity Verification and Account Ownership

Verify account holder identity by pulling name, address, email, and phone number directly from the financial institution. Used for KYC onboarding, reducing manual document collection. Plaid returns the data exactly as the bank holds it, providing higher confidence than user-entered information. Identity data is available immediately after account linking.

Call /identity/get for a linked item and return the account holder's full name and mailing address as stored by the institution

Balance Checks for Payment Initiation

Check real-time available and current balances on linked accounts before initiating ACH transfers or bill payments. Prevents insufficient-fund failures by confirming balance covers the intended amount. Balance data refreshes on each API call to the institution, with support for checking, savings, and credit card accounts simultaneously.

Call /accounts/balance/get for the user's checking account and confirm the available balance exceeds $500 before approving a transfer

Asset Report Generation for Lending

Generate point-in-time asset reports that summarise account balances, transaction history, and income patterns across all linked accounts. Lenders use these reports for mortgage pre-qualification and loan underwriting. Reports include 60 days of transaction history by default, with configurable lookback periods up to 2 years. Audit copies can be shared directly with third-party verifiers.

Create an asset report with a 90-day lookback for two linked items and retrieve the PDF version once the report is ready

Key Endpoints

308 endpoints — connect applications to users' bank accounts for account verification, transaction history, and identity data across 12,000+ financial institutions.

METHOD

PATH

DESCRIPTION

POST

/link/token/create

Create a link token to initialise Plaid Link

POST

/item/public_token/exchange

Exchange a public token for an access token

POST

/transactions/get

Retrieve transactions for a linked item

POST

/transactions/sync

Incrementally sync new transactions

POST

/accounts/balance/get

Get real-time account balances

POST

/auth/get

Get account and routing numbers for ACH

POST

/identity/get

Get account holder identity data

POST

/asset_report/create

Create an asset report for underwriting

POST

/link/token/create

Create a link token to initialise Plaid Link

POST

/item/public_token/exchange

Exchange a public token for an access token

POST

/transactions/get

Retrieve transactions for a linked item

POST

/transactions/sync

Incrementally sync new transactions

POST

/accounts/balance/get

Get real-time account balances

Why though Jentic?

Three things that make agents converge on Jentic-routed access.

Credential isolation

Plaid client ID and secret are stored encrypted in the Jentic vault (MAXsystem). Agents receive scoped access tokens — raw API keys and user access tokens never enter the agent's context window.

Intent-based discovery

Agents search by intent (e.g., 'retrieve bank transactions' or 'verify account balance') and Jentic returns matching Plaid operations with their input schemas and required parameters, so the agent calls the right endpoint without browsing Plaid's 300+ endpoint documentation.

Time to first call

Direct Plaid integration: 3-7 days for Link setup, token exchange, webhook handling, and error recovery. Through Jentic: under 1 hour — search, load schema, execute.

Related APIs

Alternatives and complements available in the Jentic catalogue.

Complementary

Stripe API

Stripe handles payment processing while Plaid provides bank account linking and verification

Use Stripe when you need to charge cards or manage subscriptions; use Plaid when you need to verify bank accounts or retrieve transaction history

Complementary

Adyen Checkout API

Adyen processes payments across channels while Plaid provides the underlying bank data

Use Adyen when processing multi-channel payments; use Plaid for bank account data aggregation and identity verification

Complementary

Xero Accounting API

Xero manages accounting records while Plaid feeds in bank transaction data

Use Xero for invoicing and ledger management; use Plaid for pulling live transaction data from bank accounts into accounting systems

FAQs

Specific to using The Plaid API API through Jentic.

What authentication does the Plaid API use?

Plaid uses API key authentication with two headers: PLAID-CLIENT-ID and PLAID-SECRET sent on every request, plus a Plaid-Version header for API versioning. Through Jentic, these credentials are stored encrypted in the MAXsystem vault — agents receive scoped access tokens and never handle raw client IDs or secrets directly.

Can I retrieve real-time bank balances with the Plaid API?

Yes. The /accounts/balance/get endpoint returns current and available balances by making a real-time call to the institution. This works for checking, savings, and credit card accounts. The available balance accounts for pending transactions that have not yet settled.

What are the rate limits for the Plaid API?

Plaid enforces per-client rate limits that vary by endpoint and plan tier. Transaction endpoints allow hundreds of requests per minute on production plans. The /transactions/sync endpoint is designed for high-frequency polling with incremental cursors, reducing the need for repeated full-history fetches.

How do I pull bank transactions through the Plaid API via Jentic?

Search Jentic for 'retrieve bank transactions', then load the /transactions/sync operation schema. The agent provides the access token and cursor (both managed by Jentic), and receives incremental transaction records with merchant name, amount, date, and category. Install the SDK with pip install jentic to get started, or sign up at https://app.jentic.com/sign-up.

How many financial institutions does Plaid connect to?

The Plaid API connects to over 12,000 financial institutions across the US, Canada, and Europe. Coverage includes major banks, credit unions, and investment brokerages. Each institution connection is managed through Plaid Link, which handles the OAuth or credential-based authentication flow specific to that bank.

Can I verify account ownership with Plaid before sending an ACH payment?

Yes. The /auth/get endpoint returns verified account and routing numbers after a user links their bank through Plaid Link. The /identity/get endpoint returns the account holder's name as stored by the institution, allowing you to match against the intended recipient before initiating a transfer.