If you’ve connected your bank account to financial apps like Robinhood, Acorns, Venmo, American Express, Coinbase, and Credit Karma, you may be entitled to some cash, according to a report by Fast Company.
Plaid, the financial service these apps (and 5,500 others) use to link your bank account, has settled a class-action lawsuit accusing the company of collecting more financial data from users than necessary. The suit also alleges Plaid obtained users’ bank login information “through its user interface, known as ‘Plaid Link,’ which had the look and feel of the user’s own bank account login screen.” In reality, users were inputting their information “directly to Plaid.” Plaid denies these claims and says it was transparent with its customers.
Plaid will pay $58 million to affected users, but unfortunately for us, payouts might be slim — the company says millions of people have interacted with its service, which means more money to split up. You may qualify to receive a claim if you’re a US resident who has connected a bank account to an app between January 1st, 2013 and November 19th, 2021. If you’re unsure whether an app you use (or have used) is affected, you can search for specific financial apps on the settlement’s site. In addition to the aforementioned apps, some other popular apps that Plaid powers include Chime, Mint, Betterment, and NerdWallet.
You might’ve already received an email alerting you about the class action lawsuit, and if you have, make sure to submit your claim by April 28th, 2022. If you didn’t receive an email but think you’ve been affected, you can still file a claim by heading to the same page and hitting the “Click Here” button. From here, you’ll have to fill out a form with your name and address, as well as a list of apps you linked your bank account to. You can find additional details about the settlement on its FAQ page.
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