Consumer Services Agreement
Effective Date: May 2024
Thanks for using Plaid Consumer Reporting Agency, Inc. dba Plaid Check (“Plaid CRA”). Plaid CRA is a consumer reporting agency providing a platform (“Platform”) that allows you to connect your bank accounts and other financial accounts (“Financial Accounts”). As a consumer reporting agency, we obtain data from Financial Accounts you authorize, create consumer reports, and share them with users to approve you for things like credit (“Consumer Report Users”).
This Consumer Services Agreement (“Agreement”) is an agreement between you, a consumer protected by the Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1681 et seq. and respective state law, and Plaid CRA. This Agreement contains the terms and conditions under which Plaid CRA may offer consumer reports on you using data you authorize. It also contains terms and conditions which apply in the event that you create, access, manage, or otherwise use a Plaid Account (as defined and described below in the Plaid Account Terms). By accepting this Agreement, you agree to this Agreement and certify that you have all necessary rights to do so.
Please note that this Agreement, excluding the Plaid Account Terms below, does not apply to products or services provided by Plaid Inc. The Plaid Account Terms only apply with respect to a Plaid Account, a feature offered across both Plaid CRA and its affiliate Plaid Inc. In addition, this Agreement does not apply to the services we provide to the developers of apps or Consumer Report Users. Those services are covered by our Developer Terms of Use and other terms.
Control and Responsibilities.
You authorize Plaid CRA, a consumer reporting agency as defined by section 603(f) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. § 1681a(f)) to obtain nonpublic personal information regulated by the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act and other personal information to create and share consumer reports with Consumer Report Users.
You represent and warrant that you are a sole or joint accountholder and own all funds in any Financial Account for which you provide login credentials. You agree to comply with all laws and regulations applicable to your use of Plaid CRA, as well as any rules and guidelines that we post. You must not (1) use, connect, or provide login credentials for anyone else’s Financial Accounts or related data, (2) submit information to Plaid CRA about anyone else’s identity or Financial Accounts or that violates any third-party rights or (3) use the Platform for any fraudulent, illegal or misleading purpose. You also agree not to (a) modify, reverse engineer or seek to gain unauthorized access to the Platform or related systems, data or source code, (b) bypass or circumvent measures designed to prevent or limit access to any part of the Platform, (c) rent, lease, provide access to or sublicense any elements of the Platform to a third party or use the Platform on behalf of or to provide services to third parties, (d) copy, modify or create derivative works of the Platform or remove any of Plaid CRA’s proprietary notices, (e) access the Platform for competitive purposes or publish any benchmark or performance information about the Platform, or (f) use the Platform in any manner that could damage, disable, overburden, or impair the functioning of the Platform or interfere with, disrupt or negatively affect other users.
Your rights under this Agreement are subject to verification of your identity. Plaid CRA is under no obligation to provide any services under circumstances where we are unable to verify your identity.
How Plaid CRA Uses Your Data.
Please review our Plaid CRA Privacy Policy to learn how Plaid CRA uses your data, including data related to your Financial Accounts (e.g., your Financial Account login information and transactions information). If you have questions, contact us at PlaidCRA@plaid.com.
Receipt of Electronic Notices.
Plaid CRA may provide notices or communications to you through the phone number you provide us (when applicable), or through the email associated with the Financial Accounts you connect (when available) or provided to us by the Consumer Report User (when applicable). By connecting Financial Accounts with Plaid CRA and engaging with Plaid CRA electronically, you agree to receive notices and disclosures that Plaid CRA is required to provide you electronically, including the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Privacy Notice, and federal and state summaries of rights under consumer reporting laws.
Rights to the Platform.
Note that Plaid CRA owns all right, title, and interest (including intellectual property rights) in and to the Platform and our related websites and technology. If you choose to give us feedback, suggestions, or other inputs about the Platform, we may use them without restriction.
Plaid Account Terms.
When interacting with Plaid CRA, you may be asked if you would like to save and manage your Financial Account connections and identity verification data in an account (“Plaid Account”). If you create, access, manage, or otherwise use a Plaid Account, the following terms (the “Plaid Account Terms”) will also apply. By creating, accessing, managing, or using a Plaid Account, you agree to the Plaid Account Terms and certify that you have all necessary rights to do so. If you do not agree to the Plaid Account Terms, please do not create, access, manage, or use a Plaid Account. If, at any time, you no longer agree to the Plaid Account Terms, you may delete your Plaid Account.
Creating a Plaid Account lets you accelerate your future use of Plaid CRA’s services, including by accelerating your ability to grant Plaid CRA access to your Financial Accounts to enable Plaid CRA to create and share consumer reports with Consumer Report Users. In addition, when you engage with apps that use services offered by Plaid Inc. (“Apps”), a Plaid Account lets you accelerate your onboarding onto and use of such Apps, including faster Financial Account connection, data sharing, identity verification, transfers and payments you make using such Apps, and other products and services you use involving your financial and identity data in those Apps. Note that a Plaid Account is not a transaction or asset account for purposes of the Electronic Fund Transfer Act, does not store funds, and does not provide you with a means to initiate electronic fund transfers or other payments, but instead enables you to use Plaid CRA’s services more quickly and easily and/or onboard onto and use Apps more quickly and easily.
When you provide Plaid CRA with access to one or more Financial Accounts, or when you connect one or more Financial Accounts to an App through Plaid Inc., Plaid CRA or Plaid Inc., as applicable, may ask you to provide and verify your phone number, email address, or other contact information in order to create your Plaid Account and remember each of your connections within your Plaid Account. When you verify your identity with an App through Plaid Inc., Plaid Inc. may ask whether you want to save your identity data within your Plaid Account. By creating a Plaid Account, you: (a) authorize Plaid CRA to retain and use your Financial Account connections and identity data in accordance with the Plaid Account Terms and the Plaid CRA Privacy Policy; and (b) authorize Plaid Inc. to retain and use your Financial Account connections and identity data in accordance with the Plaid Account Terms and the Plaid Inc. End User Privacy Policy.
How Your Plaid Account Works. Saving identity data and/or Financial Account connections in your Plaid Account enables you to more quickly use Plaid CRA’s Services, onboard onto Apps, and use such Apps’ products and services. When you return to use Plaid CRA’s Services, your Plaid Account helps Plaid CRA recognize you and allows you to provide Plaid CRA access to your Financial Accounts without you having to re-enter all of your saved information. When you return to use your data and connections with Apps, your Plaid Account helps Plaid Inc. recognize you and complete faster identity verification and account linking for you without you having to re-enter all of your saved information for each of those Apps.
As part of enabling these faster processes for you through your Plaid Account, Plaid CRA and Plaid Inc. may: (a) share with their affiliates, their service provides, Consumer Report Users (in the case of Plaid CRA), and Apps (in the case of Plaid Inc.) information about whether or not you have a Plaid Account, and, if you do, certain information from your Plaid Account in order for us and them to provide services to you, including: (i) the number and types of Financial Account connections in your Plaid Account, (ii) the types of identity data and documents in your Plaid Account, and (iii) the services and use cases that Consumer Report Users (in the case of Plaid CRA) and Apps (in the case of Plaid Inc.) provide to you that can be supported by the Financial Account connections and identity data in your Plaid Account; (b) contact you using information that you provide or that is available in your saved identity data or Financial Account connections, including to send security notifications to confirm activity on your Plaid Account and messages outlining steps for you to complete or troubleshoot the process of using Plaid CRA’s services or using Plaid Inc. to onboard onto and use Apps; and (c) verify your data to protect against fraud, misrepresentation, unauthorized or suspicious activity, or other malicious behavior – data Plaid CRA or Plaid Inc. receives from this verification process may be stored in your Plaid Account for use when you return to share identity data with other Apps.
For more information about Plaid CRA’s collection, use, and sharing of personal information about you in connection with your Plaid Account, please review the Plaid CRA Privacy Policy. For more information about Plaid Inc.’s collection, use, and sharing of personal information about you in connection with your Plaid Account, please review the Plaid Inc. End User Privacy Policy. The Plaid Account Terms, Plaid CRA Privacy Policy, and Plaid Inc. End User Privacy Policy do not cover what third parties, such as Consumer Report Users or the developers of Apps, do with your information. You should review the privacy policies and terms of service for those third parties for information about their practices.
Managing and Deleting Your Plaid Account. You can view and manage your Plaid Account at my.plaid.com, by contacting Plaid Inc. at privacy@plaid.com, or by contacting Plaid CRA through its Request Form. If you would like to delete your Plaid Account or have any questions about managing your Plaid Account or regarding your data rights, please contact Plaid Inc. at privacy@plaid.com or contact Plaid CRA through its Request Form.
Plaid Account Use and Restrictions. You may only use your Plaid Account to accelerate your future use of Plaid CRA’s services or enable faster onboarding onto and use of Apps. By creating or using a Plaid Account, you expressly agree to the Agreement and that: (a) all data you provide and all Financial Accounts you connect are your own or that you are an authorized user of those accounts; (b) all data you provide to verify your identity is complete and accurate; and (c) you will not (i) use or access anyone else’s Plaid Account or related data, (ii) use any Plaid Account or related data for any fraudulent, illegal or misleading purpose, (iii) modify, reverse engineer or seek to gain unauthorized access to any Plaid Account or related Plaid CRA or Plaid Inc. systems (“Plaid Systems”), (iv) bypass or circumvent measures designed to prevent or limit access to any part of any Plaid Account or Plaid Systems, (v) copy, modify or create derivative works of any Plaid Account or Plaid Systems in any manner not authorized by Plaid CRA or Plaid Inc., (vi) access any Plaid Account or Plaid Systems for competitive purposes or publish any benchmark or performance information, or (vii) use any Plaid Account or Plaid Systems in any manner that could damage, disable, overburden, or impair the functioning thereof or interfere with, disrupt, or negatively affect other users.
You acknowledge and understand that you are responsible for the data that you save in your Plaid Account. You will not provide any data that is: (i) defamatory, abusive, harassing, threatening, or an invasion of a right or the privacy of another person; (ii) bigoted, hateful, or racially or otherwise offensive; (iii) violent, vulgar, obscene, pornographic, or otherwise sexually explicit; (iv) trademarked or copyrighted content, or content that otherwise infringes on the intellectual property rights of another individual or company; or (v) otherwise harmful or can be reasonably expected to be harmful to any person or entity. Any unauthorized use of a Plaid Account is strictly prohibited and may result in deletion of your Plaid Account.
Plaid Account SMS Terms. In relation to the creation or use of your Plaid Account, Plaid CRA or Plaid Inc. may, either directly or via a service provider, send you Short Message Service (SMS) messages in order to confirm your identity by way of two-factor authentication. By creating, accessing, managing, or using a Plaid Account, you consent to receive such messages. Please see the Wireless Device and SMS Terms section below for additional terms and details regarding SMS messages and related data handling practices.
Plaid Account Security. Plaid CRA and Plaid Inc. implement technical and organizational measures designed to safeguard your Plaid Account from unauthorized access, use, alteration, or disclosure and to maintain the security, confidentiality, and integrity of your data. However, we encourage you to take responsibility for securing your Plaid Account and other personal information, knowing that you provide it at your own risk. If you believe your Plaid Account has been compromised, please immediately contact Plaid Inc. at privacy@plaid.com or at Plaid CRA at PlaidCRA@plaid.com.
Disabling Your Plaid Account. Plaid CRA or Plaid Inc., in their sole discretion, may disable or delete a Plaid Account if (a) Plaid CRA or Plaid Inc. suspects any violation of any of the terms contained in the Agreement, (b) your Plaid Account is unused and remains inactive for an extended period of time, (c) Plaid CRA or Plaid Inc. suspects any unauthorized use of your Plaid Account, or (d) Plaid CRA or Plaid Inc. is legally obligated to do so. Plaid CRA and Plaid Inc. reserve the right to seek all other available remedies, in law or in equity, in connection with such any issue.
Wireless Device and SMS Terms.
Plaid CRA may send you Short Message Service (SMS) messages in order to provide a service to you and/or to confirm your identity by way of two-factor authentication. Plaid Inc. may send you SMS messages to confirm your identity by way of two-factor authentication in connection with the creation or use of your Plaid Account. You consent to receive automated SMS messages from Plaid CRA, Plaid Inc., and any of Plaid CRA’s or Plaid Inc.’s SMS-related service providers (“SMS Providers”), including through the use of an automatic telephone dialing system, at the telephone number you have provided. Message and data rates may apply. As a general matter, you will receive one message per request. Carriers are not liable for delayed or undelivered messages.
You authorize your wireless carrier to use or disclose information about your account and your wireless device, if available, to Plaid CRA, Plaid Inc., or SMS Providers for the duration of your business relationship, solely to help identify you or your wireless device and to prevent fraud. Please see the Plaid CRA Privacy Policy to see how Plaid CRA treats your data and please see the Plaid Inc. End User Privacy Policy to see how Plaid Inc. treats your data.
The information your wireless carrier may disclose may include mobile number, name, address, email, network status, customer type, customer role, billing type, and mobile device identifiers (IMSI and IMEI). No mobile information will be shared with third parties or affiliates for marketing or promotional purposes. Text messaging originator opt-in data and consent information will not be shared with any third parties.
If you do not wish to receive SMS messages, or if you no longer want your wireless operator to share information about you, you agree to reply STOP to any SMS message from Plaid CRA or Plaid Inc. or sent on behalf of Plaid CRA or Plaid Inc. in order to opt out of the SMS message notifications. You may receive an additional SMS message confirming your decision to opt out. After opting out of SMS messages, you will no longer receive messages from Plaid CRA, Plaid Inc., or SMS Providers unless you subsequently request SMS messages from Plaid CRA or Plaid Inc. or sign up for any Plaid Inc. or Plaid CRA services, such as a Plaid Account, that require sending you SMS messages.
If you are experiencing issues with the SMS messages from Plaid CRA, Plaid Inc., or SMS Providers, you can reply with the keyword HELP for more assistance, or you can contact login+sms@plaid.com.
Age Restriction.
Persons under the age of 18 may not use this Platform or create a Plaid Account. By using this Platform (including by creating or using a Plaid Account), you represent and warrant that you are 18 years old or older. If you have reason to believe that a person under 18 years of age is using our services, please contact us at PlaidCRA@plaid.com and, upon confirmation of underage Plaid Account usage, Plaid CRA or Plaid Inc. will delete the relevant Plaid CRA Account, subject to and in compliance with our requirements under applicable law.
Geographical Limitation.
Persons residing outside of the United States may not use this Platform or create a Plaid Account. By using this Platform (including by creating or using a Plaid Account), you represent and warrant that you are a resident of the United States.
Our Disclaimers.
TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, THE PLATFORM (INCLUDING ANY PLAID ACCOUNT) IS PROVIDED “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE,” AND ANY USE IS AT YOUR DISCRETION AND RISK. PLAID CRA, ITS AFFILIATES AND ITS AND THEIR SUPPLIERS MAKE NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, STATUTORY OR OTHERWISE, INCLUDING WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, TITLE, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR NONINFRINGEMENT. PLAID CRA DOES NOT WARRANT THAT USE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE.
Liabilities for our Platform. TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, PLAID CRA, ITS AFFILIATES AND ITS AND THEIR SUPPLIERS WILL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR: (A) ANY LOST PROFITS, LOSS OF USE, FAILURE OF SECURITY MECHANISMS, FINANCIAL LOSSES, OR ANY INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, RELIANCE OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OF ANY KIND OR (B) ANY DAMAGES OR AMOUNTS EXCEEDING, IN THE AGGREGATE, THE GREATER OF (1) THE AMOUNT YOU PAID US TO USE THE PLATFORM AND (2) ONE HUNDRED U.S. DOLLARS (US $100).
Notices.
All notices, requests and other communications to Plaid CRA under this Agreement must be in writing to Plaid Consumer Reporting Agency, Inc., Attention: Legal, P.O. Box 7777 #35278, San Francisco, CA 94120-7775 (with a courtesy copy to legalnotices@plaid.com) and will be deemed given when delivered.
Ending This Agreement.
At any time in its discretion, Plaid CRA may terminate or suspend this Agreement (or your use of the Platform) with or without notice and for any or no reason, including if Plaid CRA suspects that you have violated this Agreement. Plaid CRA will have no liability to you for any termination or suspension, nor will such action limit any other rights or remedies Plaid CRA may have. Except for your right to use the Platform, this Agreement will survive any termination.
About This Agreement.
This Agreement may not be transferred or assigned by you without Plaid CRA’s prior written consent. Plaid CRA may assign or transfer this Agreement to its affiliates or in connection with a merger, sale, reorganization or other change of control. In addition, Plaid CRA’s affiliates, contractors and service providers may exercise Plaid CRA’s rights or fulfill its obligations under this Agreement. Waivers must be in writing and no waivers will be implied. If any provision of this Agreement is held by a court of competent jurisdiction to be unenforceable for any reason, the remaining provisions will remain unaffected and in full force and effect. This Agreement is the final, complete and exclusive agreement between you and us relating the subject matter of this Agreement and supersedes all prior or contemporaneous understandings and agreements relating to such subject matter, whether oral or written. In this Agreement, headings are for convenience only and the term “including” (and similar terms) will be construed without limitation.
Plaid CRA may modify this Agreement from time to time. Unless we specify otherwise, modifications take effect (and govern future use of the Platform) when we post the modified version. Plaid CRA will use reasonable efforts to notify you of the modifications, and you may be required to agree to the modified version. If you do not agree to the modifications, your sole remedy is to cease using the Platform.