How to securely collect bank data from your clients
A guide for bookkeepers and accountants on collecting client bank data through regulated open banking.
Use regulated open banking, where each client authorizes read-only access through their own bank, so you never handle a password. Give each client an isolated workspace and their categorized transactions sync into your spreadsheet, Notion or Airtable.
How people do it today
Asking for their bank login
Sharing online-banking credentials breaks the bank’s terms, removes the client’s consent trail, and makes you liable for data you should never hold.
Emailing PDF statements back and forth
You chase the client, wait, get the wrong month, then re-key figures by hand. Merchant, category and balance detail is lost every time.
Adding every client to one shared workspace
Works until one client sees another’s transactions. There is no real isolation, and removing a client means deleting their data by hand.
The secure method, step by step
Use regulated open banking instead of credentials
Each client authorizes read-only access on their own bank’s consent screen through Plaid (US and Canada), CDR (Australia) or Open Banking (UK). You never see or store a password.
Give each client their own isolated space
Each client keeps their own BankSync workspace with its own bank connection and tokens, and shares it with you. Clients see only their own data, and stopping one share never affects another.
Send one request for the bank connection
Send the client a request by email, or copy its link and send it yourself. They open it on any device, enter a code from their email, confirm they are happy to share with you, approve read-only access at their bank and answer your questions. No password, no account to set up.
Let the data flow to where you work
Their categorized transactions sync hourly, daily or weekly into your Google Sheet, Excel workbook, Notion or Airtable, one destination per client.
See and revoke at the client level
Every client sits in your client list, with each request shown as sent, opened, verified, connected or stalled. Either side can stop sharing when an engagement ends.
Why this is the safe choice
- Open banking grants read-only access to transactions and balances, never the ability to move money.
- BankSync never sees or holds your clients’ bank passwords.
- Each client’s tokens stay in their own workspace, so stopping one share never touches another.
- Clients approve and revoke access through their own bank, so there is a consent trail on the record.
- Connections run through regulated frameworks by region: Plaid, CDR (ADRBNK000246), UK Open Banking and PSD2 in Europe.
Frequently asked questions
What is the most secure way to collect bank data from clients?
Regulated open banking: the client authorizes read-only access through their own bank’s consent screen, so you never handle credentials. Plaid (US and Canada), CDR (Australia) and Open Banking (UK) issue revocable, read-only tokens; pair that with a separate workspace per client.
Should I ever ask a client for their online banking password?
No. It breaks the bank’s terms of service, removes the client’s consent trail and leaves you liable for credentials you should never hold; use regulated open banking instead.
How do I keep one client’s data separate from another’s?
Give each client their own workspace with its own bank connection and tokens, shared with you. Data lands only in that client’s workspace and your client list, and stopping one share never touches another.
Do my clients need to install software or learn a new tool?
No. The client gets one email link, enters a 6-digit code sent to that address, selects their bank and approves read-only access on the bank’s own screen; there is no password or account to set up. After that their data flows to you automatically.
What if my client already uses BankSync?
They share their own workspace with you, by your code or your email. They keep ownership and keep paying for it, your staff work in it with the role they choose, and either side can stop access at any time. A client can share with up to 3 advisors.
Can I collect data from clients in different countries?
Yes. BankSync supports the US and Canada (Plaid), Australia (CDR, accreditation ADRBNK000246), the UK (Open Banking) and Europe (PSD2) across 11,000+ institutions. Each client connects through their region’s framework and all roll up into one dashboard.
Collect client bank data the secure way
Send each client one link, let them connect and answer, and let open banking do the rest.