Connect Your Bank

How to connect your bank to Forbidden Finance for automatic transaction syncing — plus how the bank rail fits alongside the brokerage and Premium Connections rails on the add-account screen.

Overview

Connecting an account enables automatic transaction syncing, so your spending, income, and balances update without manual entry. Forbidden Finance connects to your financial institutions through our secure aggregator network — your credentials go directly to your institution and are never stored by Forbidden Finance.

When you tap Add Account, you see four connection rails. This guide covers the first one, Bank & Account Connections — the standard rail for everyday banking.

The Four Rails

Rail	What it connects	Tier
Bank & Account Connections	Checking, savings, credit cards, loans, and many retirement balances	Starter and above
Brokerages & Investments	Direct brokerage connections — holdings, activity, and cost basis, read-only	Pro and above
Premium Connections	Limited slots for institutions the other rails can't reach — HSAs, 529s, some workplace retirement recordkeepers	Pro: 1 slot / Premium: 3 (packs from Starter up)
Bring your own connections	UK and European banks, through your own Lunch Flow subscription. Never counts against your connection limit	Starter and above

Most accounts belong on the Bank & Account Connections rail. Reach for the brokerage rail when you want holdings-level investment detail, for a Premium Connection when an institution appears on neither of the other rails, and for Bring your own connections when the bank you want is in the UK or Europe.

Requirements for the Bank Rail

Tier: Starter or above. The Free tier is manual-only (up to 10 manual accounts) and does not include bank connections.
Connection limits: Starter connects up to 5, Pro up to 15, and Premium is unlimited. Premium household members inherit unlimited connections automatically.
Institutions: thousands of US and Canadian banks, credit unions, and lenders through our secure aggregator network. If yours is not listed, you can track it with a manual account.

How to Connect Your Bank

Go to Accounts

Open the Accounts tab and tap Add Account or the + button.

Choose Bank & Account Connections

Pick the Bank & Account Connections rail. This launches the secure connection flow.

Authorize the connection

Before anything connects, an Authorize this connection sheet explains exactly what you are agreeing to: what data we access (account names, balances, and transactions for the accounts you select — nothing else at your bank), why, and who handles it (with a link to our Sub-Processor List), plus how to withdraw later — disconnect anytime in Settings > Accounts. Tap Agree and continue to proceed; canceling here ends the flow with nothing connected. We record that you agreed and which version of the notice you saw.

Find your institution

Search for your bank by name. Tap it to select it. If it does not appear, it may not be supported on this rail yet — try the brokerage rail for investment firms, or a manual account.

Authenticate with your bank

You are handed off to a secure login screen. Enter your bank credentials and complete any multi-factor step your bank requires (such as a texted code). Your credentials go directly to your bank through our aggregator network and are never stored by Forbidden Finance.

Select accounts to sync

After authentication, you see the accounts at that institution. Select the ones you want to track. You can choose checking, savings, credit cards, and loans; retirement balances appear here too when the institution reports them.

Confirm the connection

Tap Connect to finalize. Forbidden Finance imports your recent transaction history, and new transactions appear automatically on your sync schedule.

What Happens After Connecting

Initial sync: your recent transaction history is imported automatically. This may take a few moments depending on how much history is available.
Ongoing sync: Forbidden Finance syncs daily, plus updates when your bank reports changes. Banks don't push instantly — our aggregator network is notified when your bank reports new activity, typically a few times a day. See Sync Schedules.
Balances: your account balance updates with each sync.
Categories: incoming transactions are auto-categorized using merchant information and your personal rules.
Pending transactions: some transactions arrive as "pending" before your bank finalizes them. They are included in your budget but visually marked, and the amount may adjust slightly when posted.

Security

Your credentials go to your bank, not to us. Authentication happens in our aggregator network's secure flow. Forbidden Finance never sees, stores, or has access to your bank username or password.
Encrypted access tokens. After you authenticate, the aggregator issues an access token that allows transaction syncing. This token is encrypted before it is stored and is only decrypted momentarily when syncing your data.
Bank-level encryption. All data is encrypted in transit and at rest.
Revocable access. You can disconnect a bank at any time, which revokes the access token and records your withdrawal of consent.
Consent on record. Your authorization is recorded when you connect, so there is always a clear answer to "what did I agree to, and when". Connections made before we kept this record may show a one-time Confirm your connections banner on the dashboard — confirming simply puts your authorization on record, changes nothing about the connection, and never blocks your data from syncing.

Key Details

Account types depend on your tier. The bank rail syncs checking, savings, credit card, loan, and money market accounts, plus many retirement balances. Direct brokerage investment detail lives on the brokerage rail (Pro and above). See Supported Account Types.
Each institution is one connection. Connecting a bank counts as one connection regardless of how many accounts you select there.
Pull-to-refresh. Between scheduled syncs, trigger a manual sync by pulling down on the transactions list.

Tips

Connect your most active accounts first. Your primary checking and credit card accounts give Forbidden Finance the most data to work with for budgeting and recurring detection.

If you bank at a credit union and it does not appear in the search, try the credit union's full name rather than an abbreviation.

If your bank uses security questions or another verification method, you may be prompted for those during the connection flow. Have that information ready.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it safe to connect my bank?

Yes. Your bank credentials go directly to your bank through our secure aggregator network and are never stored by Forbidden Finance. All data is encrypted in transit and at rest.

Does Forbidden Finance store my bank password?

No. Your credentials are handled entirely by our aggregator network. Forbidden Finance only receives an encrypted access token for syncing transactions — it never sees your username or password.

What if my bank is not listed?

Some smaller banks or credit unions may not be reachable on the bank rail yet. If yours is an investment firm, try the brokerage rail. Otherwise, use a manual account and import transactions via CSV or JSON.

How many banks can I connect?

Starter: up to 5. Pro: up to 15. Premium: unlimited (household members inherit unlimited automatically). Each institution counts as one connection regardless of how many accounts you link there.

What about investment or HSA accounts?

Investment holdings connect on the Brokerages & Investments rail (Pro and above). HSAs, 529s, and some workplace retirement recordkeepers connect via a Premium Connection slot.

Connect a Brokerage

Direct brokerage connections with holdings and cost basis.

Premium Connections

Slots for HSAs, 529s, and workplace retirement plans.

Sync Schedules

How often your transactions sync.

Supported Account Types

What account types are available per tier.

Need more help? Contact us at [email protected].

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