Bank Connection Best Practices

Understand how your accounts connect to your platform.

What are the elements of connecting bank and credit card accounts to the platform?

For best practice options relating to a handful of top institutions, click here. There are TWO elements to keep in mind:

1. Connection Type

Standard Connection:

A standard connection requires a username and password to establish a connection.  For some business accounts, you might need to provide a customer id in addition to username and password. 

Enter the username and password. 

Or you will be asked to enter the customer ID, username, and password.

OAuth Connection:

An OAuth connection is similar to a standard connection where it requires a username and password to connect. However, OAuth connections use a token to establish the connection. It is becoming more common for institutions to require OAuth in order to gain data access. When you’re establishing an OAuth connection, it will appear as if you’re logging into the bank directly.

2. Credential Type

Banks and credit card providers generally offer TWO credential types:

1. Primary: This provides full access to an account, with no restrictions.
2. Read-Only: This gives access for a user ONLY to view account details.

A primary credential provides a more stable connection to the platform. Read-only will also provide access, but you might see disconnections more frequently than if you use primary credentials. 

Additional Considerations

There are a few other things to consider before attempting a connection to the platform:

• Ensure your bank or credit card account institution allows third party connections.
• Understand that some institutions will not allow you to choose individual accounts to connect under your credentials; you might need to authorize ALL the accounts under those credentials per the institution's practices.
• Some institutions require a PIN (Personal Identification Number) to be able to connect to the institution; this is typically set up in the Security section of your account settings with the institution.
• Some institutions have additional considerations. If you experience issues, you might wish to reach out to the institution to inquire about their practices for connecting to third parties. 

Major Institutions with Specific Setup Suggestions

General

• Regardless of whether an institution allows you to connect with read only credentials, we always recommend using client’s primary credentials.
  • We recommend using Smart Link for a secure and easy way for clients to connect without sharing credentials or needing to be an active user of your platform.
  • You can gather the credentials from your client(s) to make the connection directly within Smart Connect.

Chase

• Use your client’s primary credentials
  • You can either:
    • Use Smart Link to have your client make the connection (best practice); or

• • • Gather your client’s credentials to make the connection directly within Smart Connect

• You can use read-only credentials provided to you by your client, noting the following setting needs to be turned on within the user's financial institution settings:

• • The third party app access checkbox needs to be checked.
  • Here is a link that will walk you through: Access & Security Manager for Chase Accounts

Bank of America

These connection require a client’s primary credentials. You can either:

• Use Smart Link to have your client make the connection (best practice); or
• Gather your client’s credentials to make the connection directly within Smart Connect

Capital One

These connections require a client’s primary credentials. You can either:

• Use Smart Link to have your client make the connection (best practice); or
• Gather your client’s credentials to make the connection directly within Smart Connect

Wells Fargo

You can either:

• Use Smart Link to have your client make the connection (best practice); or
• Gather your client’s credentials to make the connection directly within Smart Connect
                                                            OR
• You can use the Guest User making sure this user has permissions to allow third party data sharing; see the steps below to get this set up:
  • Go to the Wells Fargo website and navigate to Account Access Manager.
  • Sign in to your account.
  • Click the Guest User option.
  • Create a username and password for the guest user.
  • Select the type of access you want to provide for the guest user.
  • Share the username and password with the guest user.
• Guest users can
  • Check your account balance.
  • Download transaction history.
  • View and request copies of checks and statements.
  • Access other account information.
• You can manage guest users by
  • Navigating to to Security & Support > Account Access Manager
  • Selecting the Guest Users tab, which will allow you to make the following changes to your Guest User:
    • View,
    • Add
    • Edit
    • Delete access

Known Issues

American Express:

Some users experience issues connecting any third party platforms (such as QBO, Bill.com, or Botkeeper) to American Express accounts. We suggest you reach out to American Express directly for technical support if you experience this issue.

It's important to note that even if your account disconnects, Botkeeper will intake and categorize any transactions that occurred during the disconnect retroactively; nothing will get missed.

If your client's books are updated weekly or monthly, there is no need to reconnect daily.

• • It's best to reconnect the account 48 hours before you review the books to ensure the transactions through that date are downloaded and processed.

If your client's books are updated daily, you may need to reconnect daily until American Express is able to address the issue. Again, we suggest you reach out to American Express directly to request assistance.

Chase:

Users with more than one account under their login credentials might not be able specify which accounts they want to provide access to. We suggest you reach out to Chase directly for assistance in configuring your account(s).