This fact sheet addresses common questions investors have about how Stessa establishes and maintains data connections to banks, credit card issuers, and lenders.

Many financial platforms and apps use financial data aggregators to connect customers to their banking data. These providers maintain secure connections to thousands of US-based banks so that companies like Stessa can focus on building powerful services to help you manage and understand your data. When you connect your financial accounts on the Connected Accounts page, it's MoneyKit that does the heavy lifting in the background.

We know it's frustrating when your bank connection breaks. With 10,000+ U.S. banks and credit unions, each with its own security protocols and technology, there's no single standard for third-party data access. Banks regularly change their security settings, login requirements, and websites, which can interrupt connections. Smaller regional banks and credit unions tend to experience more issues than large national banks.

For more on why connections break, how to fix common errors, and which banks tend to connect most reliably, see Troubleshooting Bank Connections.

For a 100% reliable syncing experience, consider a Stessa Cash Management account. Because it's natively integrated with Stessa, transactions sync instantly without relying on a third-party connection.

Stessa works with two providers, each for a different purpose:

The security practices below apply to both.

Familiar names like Intuit, Acorns, Betterment, Expensify, Wave, and Venmo, along with most of the top US banks, lenders, and investment advisors, have relationships with Plaid and/or MoneyKit. Millions of consumers across thousands of tech platforms, including Stessa, trust these providers to access their financial data safely and securely.

Accounts on the Connected Accounts page are always a one-way street. No one (including you) can create a transaction, move funds, or alter your banking settings through these connections. Stessa only imports transactions, which can then be edited in the Stessa transactions ledger, and reports the current account balance for reference. Changes you make in Stessa are not reflected in your actual bank accounts.

Cash Management transfers work differently. An external bank account you link through Plaid for transfers can send money to or receive money from your Stessa Cash Management account, but only when you start a transfer yourself.

Your bank login credentials are never stored on Stessa's servers, and no one at Stessa can see your password. Our providers make the secure connection on your behalf.

Sometimes connections break when passwords expire or security questions change on the bank's end. When a Connected Account needs attention, we'll notify you by email with a link to restore your connection.

Plaid and MoneyKit only allow data to be transmitted using strong TLS protocols and ciphers. Stessa communicates with these providers over encrypted tunnels, and all connections require API key authentication, cryptographically hashed headers, and timestamps to verify authenticity.

Both Plaid and MoneyKit undergo frequent network penetration testing and third-party code reviews by independent auditors. These audits are conducted by financial institutions and federal regulators, and are an integral part of how both services maintain their security infrastructure.

Plaid and MoneyKit are in full compliance with the Bank Services Company Act and other relevant industry standards and federal regulations.

Once you've connected your accounts, new transactions won't always appear in Stessa immediately. Stessa waits for transactions to officially "post" before importing them, which eliminates the need to reconcile previously imported data. Data is imported exactly once and is then fully available for editing in Stessa.

When the connection is working properly, your data refreshes multiple times per day, and new transactions appear within 6–12 hours of posting at your bank.