What happens with my data in Plaid when I disconnect from it and give up on MD+?
I can see that in the MD+ setup I can click the "Connected" button and choose "Disconnect". When I do this, does Plaid delete all of my information for this account/connection? I just do not like my info being left floating around on some server somewhere - especially if I am not using it.
Thanks
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1 Posted by Brian on 25 Apr, 2026 08:50 PM
I was concerned about this as well. I just went to the Bank website I linked to Plaid and changed my password. Better than doing nothing I guess!
2 Posted by whitedavidp on 25 Apr, 2026 09:12 PM
Thanks Brian. I am embarrassed to admit that I failed to even think of this. Just did it and I feel somewhat better already! Best
3 Posted by dwg on 25 Apr, 2026 09:39 PM
To stop Plaid or any aggregator accessing your accounts what you need to do 'depends'.
If it is Token based access you need to log in to your banks' website and revoke the token, changing passwords will not help.
If it is indeed using username/password, yes changing the password will work, if you are no longer doing any automatic downloads disabling online access as well would not do any harm.
4 Posted by whitedavidp on 25 Apr, 2026 11:47 PM
As always, thanks. I have been all over my bank's website and can find something called "devices" but they are all just my browser over time. No tokens or 3rd party apps. So do I have to conclude there is no token in this case?
Best
5 Posted by dwg on 26 Apr, 2026 01:04 AM
The best indicator of when a token is used is how you had to set it up. If during the set up it took you to the banks website and it has asked if you wanted to allow access then it is using token based access, it is at this stage that a token is provided to the aggregator to use for future access.
6 Posted by dwg on 26 Apr, 2026 01:19 AM
FWIW I do not recall seeing any information on Plaid's retention and destruction policy.
However a search has yielded this:
https://plaid.com/legal/#consumers
7 Posted by BPA on 26 Apr, 2026 01:32 AM
How would changing your password with your financial institution not revoke
their access?
I just checked my Plaid Portal, and it shows no connected accounts since I
disconnected the only one I used it for. I would "assume" changing your
credentials at your bank would prevent further access?
On Sat, Apr 25, 2026, 9:20 PM dwg <[email blocked]> wrote:
8 Posted by dwg on 26 Apr, 2026 01:40 AM
It depends on the security system that is being used.
If it is token based, passwords are never used, access is granted to the token, so you have to revoke the token for access to be terminated in that case. This is the most secure way because no one has your username/password.
In the Open Banking world it is all token based, if FDX is being used that is also token based, OFX and screen scraping are username/password based.
9 Posted by BPA on 26 Apr, 2026 02:00 AM
Makes sense. I just can't convince myself that Plaid is indeed safe either
way. I am actually trying to link a bank account to an internet provider to
get a $10/month discount, however, they seem to strictly use Plaid. The
discount is not worth the risk, to me, anyway.
On Sat, Apr 25, 2026, 9:40 PM dwg <[email blocked]> wrote:
10 Posted by whitedavidp on 26 Apr, 2026 03:19 PM
Well, I was indeed taken to the bank's website and I thought I was creating a token. I would never have given my credentials directly to Plaid. So this is consistent.
What is NOT consistent is that I cannot seem to find anywhere on the bank's website - when logged in, of course - that shows anything about the token.
On Monday, I will try to reach the bank itself and see if they can delete the token for me. And I will suggest that they make this function available to users on the website.
Thanks very much for everyone's time and help.
11 Posted by whitedavidp on 27 Apr, 2026 05:41 PM
Well, I just tried an discussion (2 actually) with the bank in question. The 1st said they didn't know anything about Plaid. On the 2nd, I was able to find someone who did know a little something about Plaid. But they said they knew nothing about tokens or how to delete them. They said "I should change my user id/password with Plaid." But, of course, I do not have those. It seems that MD has that relationship, not me.
So no progress at all and I am seemingly at a dead end. Just more and more reasons to NOT get involved with 3rd parties in an environment that really, really needs to be secured. This was my concern as soon as I got into it. I am really glad I used a simple test case with only one bank. Imagine trying to clean up an entire, typical, use-case.
FYI
12 Posted by LarryCL on 28 Apr, 2026 04:50 PM
This is much more straightforward than being discussed here. Two thoughts/suggestions:
Many/Most large banks support managing and revoking external connections through the bank's website. I know I can do this with Chase, Citi, and BofA for example.
BofA: Security Center -> Overview. Scroll down to Data Sharing, then select Review
Chase: Click Security & Privacy. Scroll down to "Linked Apps"
Citi: Profile -> More Settings. Under Security, select "Connected Apps" and "Desktop Apps"
You can manage Plaid's data directly through Plaid itself. Go to https://my.plaid.com, create an account (you will need to use your cell phone to prove who you are) , but eventually you will get access to a dashboard that shows all the accounts that plaid is linking to on your behalf. You will be able to revoke access to any or all of these if you desire.
13 Posted by whitedavidp on 29 Apr, 2026 02:48 AM
1. I am sure you are correct about most banks. Of course, as Murphy would predict, the bank I chose for the MD+ test drive didn't...
2. I appreciate knowing this. But the very last thing I want is an account with Plaid.
Support Staff 14 Posted by Sean Reilly on 29 Apr, 2026 10:27 AM
Hi David,
If you have removed/unlinked the connections in Moneydance then that will invalidate the connection that Plaid has to your bank. Our servers never had any access to your data, because only the desktop app stores the access keys in the encrypted file on your computer.
The question of whether Plaid still has any of your data is a good one, and as LarryCL said, the only way to confirm this is by checking with Plaid themselves. You can submit a request through Plaid's Privacy Request Form to delete any data they hold for you:
https://my.plaid.com/data-subject-request-form
I'm sure you will be required to give some kind of identify verification to prove who you are, otherwise people could abuse that system by deleting other people's data. For that reason, it might be easiest to register an account with my.plaid.com, delete your data directly, and then delete the Plaid account.
Thanks,
Sean
--
Sean Reilly
Developer, The Infinite Kind
https://infinitekind.com
15 Posted by whitedavidp on 29 Apr, 2026 04:20 PM
Thanks!
Maddy closed this discussion on 01 May, 2026 10:48 AM.