How Institution Sync Works
How NivoaFlow uses Plaid to securely sync your transactions automatically.
Automatic, Secure Transaction Syncing
NivoaFlow uses Plaid, a trusted financial data provider used by thousands of apps, to connect to your institution and pull in transactions automatically. That means less time on data entry and more time making smart financial decisions.
Plan requirement: Institution sync is available on Personal and Household plans (and during your 35-day Personal trial).
How It Works
Initial Sync
When you connect an institution, NivoaFlow pulls in whatever transaction history Plaid exposes for that institution — typically anywhere from 30 days to 12 months. This gives you an immediate snapshot to categorise and review. The first sync can take from a few seconds up to a few minutes for a long history.
Ongoing Automatic Syncs
After the initial connection, Plaid notifies NivoaFlow via webhooks whenever new transactions post. They usually appear in NivoaFlow within minutes — no action required on your part.
Manual Refresh
Want an immediate update? Open Settings → Connected Institutions and select Sync now on any institution to trigger a manual refresh. This is useful right after a purchase you want to see now.
Multi-Factor Authentication
Some institutions require periodic re-authentication. If yours prompts for MFA during a sync, you'll see a status badge on the institution and a banner asking you to reconnect — see reconnecting an expired connection.
Your Credentials Are Never Stored
NivoaFlow never sees or stores your banking username and password. When you connect, you enter your credentials directly into Plaid's secure widget. Plaid authenticates with your institution and provides NivoaFlow with transaction data and account balances only.
What Gets Synced
Each synced transaction includes:
- Date — when the transaction posted
- Description — the merchant name or transaction detail from your institution
- Amount — the dollar amount
- Account — which account the transaction belongs to
From there, you can categorise, tag, split, and review transactions however you like.
Connection Health
If a connection runs into an issue — expired credentials, MFA expiry, or a temporary outage — NivoaFlow shows a status badge ("Reconnect" or "Error") on the affected institution and surfaces a banner with a one-tap Reconnect action. See troubleshooting bank connections for the full error-by-error guide.