Connecting Your First Institution
Step-by-step guide to linking an institution through Plaid for automatic transaction syncing.
Link Your Institution in Minutes
Connecting your institution lets NivoaFlow automatically pull in your transactions so you do not have to enter anything manually. We use Plaid, a trusted financial data provider, to securely connect to your bank or credit union.
Plan requirement: Institution sync requires a Personal or Household plan, and is included in your 35-day Personal trial.
Step-by-Step Walkthrough
1. Start the Connection
If you chose to connect an institution during onboarding, Plaid Link opens automatically once setup completes — skip ahead to step 2.
Otherwise, go to Settings → Connected Institutions and select Connect. The Plaid Link widget opens in a secure window.
2. Find Your Institution
Use the search bar to find your bank or credit union. Plaid supports thousands of North American institutions, including most Canadian banks and credit unions.
3. Enter Your Credentials
Sign in with the same username and password you use for your online banking. NivoaFlow never sees or stores these credentials — Plaid handles authentication directly with your institution. See how bank sync works for details.
4. Complete Multi-Factor Authentication
If your institution requires MFA (most do), follow the prompt to verify through a code sent by text, email, or your banking app, or to approve a push notification.
5. Select Your Accounts
After authentication, Plaid shows a list of available accounts — chequing, savings, credit cards, and more. Select the accounts you want to sync with NivoaFlow.
6. Confirm and Sync
Select Continue to finalise the connection. NivoaFlow pulls in available transaction history right away — typically anywhere from 30 days to 12 months, depending on what your institution exposes through Plaid. The initial sync can take up to a few minutes for large histories.
What Happens Next
Once connected, new transactions arrive automatically via webhook — usually within minutes of posting at your institution. You can also select Sync now on any institution from Settings → Connected Institutions to trigger a manual refresh.
Troubleshooting
- Institution not found? Try searching by the full name or abbreviation. Some smaller credit unions may not be supported yet.
- Connection fails? Double-check your online banking credentials and make sure your account is not locked.
- MFA not arriving? Ensure your phone number or email is up to date with your institution.
If you need to reconnect later, see reconnecting an expired institution connection. For other errors, see troubleshooting bank connections.