Xero has partnered with fintech Plaid to offer improved US bank feeds and optimise how business bank accounts connect with Xero.
With this alliance, Xero’s goal is to help businesses save time and access a clearer view of their funds. This will help with finance management, reflecting the company’s commitment to offering intuitive and valuable tools. The company focuses on SMEs and accounting practices, helping them to grow in an ever-evolving financial landscape.
Business bank account solutions
This partnership offers several key benefits for Xero’s customers, including better connections, as users will be able to choose from triple the number of bank feeds currently available, gaining more reliable links to a wider range of financial institutions, such as smaller banks and credit unions in the US.
The initiative also offers improved data accuracy and insights, as Plaid will power a portion of Xero bank feeds that businesses will use in the next 12 months. This aims to ensure greater accuracy and data quality, which is crucial for improved decision-making and understanding money movement and cash flow.
The two companies are focusing on security, transitioning to more reliable direct bank feeds using OAuth. OAuth, or Open Authorisation, is an open standard protocol that allows users to grant third-party applications access to their resources on another service without sharing their username and password. OAuth connections utilise tokens built with bank systems, offering an alternative to older methods. Xero will migrate its existing feeds to OAuth equivalents where it can, making sure that financial data is better protected and stable.
Xero and Plaid aim to make financial management more precise, enabling accountants, bookkeepers, and SME owners to save valuable time so they can focus on growth, client experience, and wellbeing. The Plaid-driven bank feed options will become available starting late 2025, launching in phases to ensure a smooth transition. The roll-out will include the introduction of new feeds and the transition of existing connections to the improved service. When this happens, users will receive clear, proactive instructions to guide them through the process.
