If you're experiencing issues with a current or attempted bank connection, this guide walks you through common problems and potential fixes.
Setting up rent collection? This article covers Connected Accounts, which import transactions into Stessa. Rent collection deposit accounts are set up separately. If you're having trouble there, see Collect Rent Using Your Bank Account.
Common Bank Connection Errors
Account Won't Connect
If your account isn't connecting or you're getting an error:
Double-check that you're using the correct login credentials.
Make sure you selected the correct institution for the type of account you're connecting. Many banks offer separate personal and business connections, and selecting the wrong one will fail.
Blank Screen After Selecting a Bank
Your browser may be blocking cookies needed to complete the connection. To resolve:
Chrome:
Go to
Settings > Privacy & Security > Cookies and other site dataSet to “Allow all cookies”
Refresh your browser and try again
Safari:
Go to
Preferences > PrivacyUncheck “Block all cookies”
Restart Safari and try the connection again
Once your bank is connected, you can change your cookie settings back if you'd like.
Successful Connection but No Accounts Found
This means your login credentials were accepted, but additional information is likely missing. To resolve:
Log in to your bank directly (outside of Stessa).
Verify and update all personal info: email, mailing address, and phone number.
Make sure all security and challenge questions are completed, and check for any pending requests for information from your bank.
Log out of your bank, return to Stessa, and try again from your Connected Accounts page.
Connected, but No Transactions After 24 Hours
Something may be wrong behind the scenes, even if the connection looks fine.
Don't delete the connection. Leaving it in place helps avoid duplicate transactions and makes troubleshooting easier.
Contact our support team using the messenger in the bottom-right corner so we can investigate.
Some Accounts Are Missing
If only some of your accounts show up after connecting your institution, contact our support team and let us know which accounts are missing. This is sometimes due to bank limitations or how the institution shares data.
"Fix It" Errors or No Data Import
If your bank connection shows an error and the "Fix It" process fails, try this:
On the Connected Accounts page, click the gear icon or the three vertical dots next to the bank name.
If needed, select Edit Login to update your credentials.
Select Refresh Account.
Follow the prompts and answer security questions if needed.
If the error persists, our third-party data providers (e.g. MoneyKit) are likely working on it. Simple issues are typically resolved within 1–2 days, protocol update-related issues may take up to 2 weeks, and more complex cases can take up to 4 weeks or longer.
Important: Don't delete the bank connection entirely, as this can make troubleshooting more complicated later.
If you're still experiencing an issue, reach out to our support team using the messenger in the bottom-right corner.
Why Did My Bank Connection Break in the First Place?
The U.S. banking system consists of 10,000+ financial institutions, including banks and credit unions, each with its own security protocols, technology stack, and data formats. Unlike standardized systems such as credit card networks, there is no single universal protocol that all banks follow for third-party data access. This means that:
Banks update their security settings frequently, causing existing connections to break.
Banks change their user interfaces, often without notice, causing scrapers relied on by the data aggregators to break.
Banks may require, and frequently update, multi-factor authentication (MFA) or additional verification steps that disrupt automated syncing.
Many smaller banks and credit unions lack robust API infrastructures, making their connections less stable and forcing the aggregators to rely on outdated scraping technology.
Third-party data providers must continually adapt to new formats, authentication changes, and evolving security requirements.
Data aggregators prioritize keeping up with changes made by larger banks that affect more customers. Smaller regional and local banks are often less of a priority.
Why Smaller Banks Are More Likely to Experience Issues
If you bank with a major institution like Chase, Bank of America, or Wells Fargo, you’ll likely experience fewer connection problems because these banks invest heavily in digital banking infrastructure. Smaller regional banks and credit unions, some of which are favored by rental property owners for their lending flexibility, tend to be less stable for automated transaction syncing because:
They may not fully support third-party integrations, or may not support them at all.
Their technical teams are smaller, so connection issues take longer to resolve.
They might change their security and login requirements more frequently, requiring you to reauthorize access more often.
Maintaining data access for the “long tail” of the US banking system is often not economically feasible for data aggregators, so they prioritize uptime for the largest banks.
If you frequently experience disruptions, consider whether your bank is likely to be suitable for reliable automated transaction imports over the long run. Stessa does not directly maintain data connections with external banking, mortgage, or credit card institutions. We rely on third-party aggregators to provide these secure connections, and Stessa does not decide how these aggregators prioritize their backlog of broken connections.
What We’re Doing to Help
We constantly work with our banking data providers to monitor and flag connection issues. While we have some influence with our data aggregators, we have no control over their prioritization queue. Here’s what we do on our end:
Proactive Monitoring: We track connection stability and escalate issues when we detect significant outages that affect a number of our customers.
Direct Vendor Communication: We work closely with data providers like MoneyKit to advocate for more transparency and faster fixes.
User Alerts & Support: If we detect a major issue with a particular bank, we update our users with status alerts and troubleshooting guidance.
How You Can Help Ensure Reliable Transaction Syncing
The reliability of your bank connection depends largely on the institution you choose. If seamless syncing is critical to you, choosing a well-supported bank makes a big difference.
For a 100% reliable syncing experience, we recommend opening a Stessa Cash Management account. Because it's natively integrated with our platform, all transactions sync instantly and without interruption.
If you prefer to use an external bank account, we recommend a major financial institution such as Chase, Bank of America, or Wells Fargo. These banks have well-established APIs, making their connections significantly more stable than smaller regional banks and credit unions.
The following institutions generally deliver stable and reliable data connections:
USAA
Capital One
American Express
TD Bank
Chase
Wells Fargo
Bank of America
Fidelity
PNC
US Bank
Citi
Navy Federal CU
SoFi
Truist
Vystar CU
Huntington Bank
Delta Community CU
Robins Financial CU
First National Bank of Texas (First Convenience Bank)
State Employees Credit Union (NC)
Woodforest National Bank
Wisely
Chime
We appreciate your patience as we work with our data aggregation partners to improve the reliability of financial data connections for all Stessa customers.