Plaid is terrible-- it's forced me off AirBNB as a guest

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Plaid is terrible-- it's forced me off AirBNB as a guest

I spend hours searching for the right resort property-- only to find Plaid force me to change passwords on 2 bank accounts, logging in both times through this company that has settled a $58 million dollar class action lawsuit for misusing private banking data, only to be told that it 1. could verify my bank, and 2. could verify me, but 3. can not verify my data-- at Chase?   And another big, legit banking institution.  

 

I suffered a giant time suck over $150 for security purposes.     Plaid's "partnerships" are like a virus designed to take down companies like AirBNB relying on it for "security"....   And let's not even unpack the Help menu for phone support...  It could not be more comically terrible.  Wait, let me send you a link on your phone to read before I tell you.  I'll wait while your do your homework in "your happy place"... seated on the toilet, enraged.

 

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Top Answer

I almost left, too. There is no way on God's green Earth that I would share my bank login and password with anyone.

 

I called AirBnB customer support, and after a bit of the usual well-this-is-how-we-do-it-now, finally the support person told me Plaid is not triggered if the customer uses PayPal.  I opened a PayPal account with the very same cr card I formerly used to book, and found that this works to bypass Plaid at AirBnB.

 

In the mean time, I will be keeping my eye on other booking agencies, as I'm now distrustful of AirBnB decision making,

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22 Replies 22
Chase138
Level 1
Oshkosh, WI

The level of information requested is insane. I don't want AirBnB to know my entire transaction history, the balance and interest rate of my mortgage, and all of my account balances. It is not acceptable.

 

I was able to get around it with PayPal, but this is my last time using AirBnB if this system remains in place.

I've been going in circles all afternoon with Plaid. This is ridiculous! 

Mike3209
Level 1
Breckenridge, CO

Anyone else having an issue with this new Plaid platform asking for your username and password to your credit card accounts??  AirBnb support team initially told me that my credit card company (Chase) is requiring the use of the Plaid Platform.  I called Chase, and they said nope, not them requiring that info, AND they said it would be silly of me to share my **bleep** username and password with ANYONE under any circumstance..  I called AirBnb back and they changed their tune......actually it is NOT required by Chase, rather it is a platform AirBnb is now using to verify your credit card and authenticity.   To which I say, HORSE POOH.  More and more issues with AirBnb than are worth the hassle......will only be listing my property on other websites into the future.  Who is in charge at AirBnb?  Not ONE LICK OF COMMON SENSE.  Too bad, and very costly for your investors.  Bye-bye.  

I completely agree with all of you. Plaid is the most insane thing Airbnb has ever done. ..why are they trying so hard to go out of business! People are not going to play along…In this day and age , they are crazy to think other wise. Did plaid just have to pay $58 million law suit…go figure. VRBO or others here I come

William2333
Level 1
Long Beach, CA

Wow, we spent a lot of years with Airbnb. But I literally can't get through the Plaid system, much less being willing to give them all my info. 

 

Will be using VRBO from here on out.

Kamil138
Level 2
New York, NY

I was able to use Google Pay with my Chase card and not use Plaid. I guess Plaid is used when directly using credit card.

Zheng49
Level 10
Toronto, Canada

I turned on instant booking again recently. 

 

So far no bad guests yet. Maybe Plaid is helping to ward off bad guests...

 

I would say Plaid verification is a double edge sword though. Good thing you can still bypass if you use paypal instead. 

 

Edit: Just read about Plaid some more. Seems like Airbnb is basically conducting a credit check on you when you pay with credit card. That does seem like it will filter out some bad guests which is potentially good for hosts that are taking instant booking. 

 

I imagine if you have bad credit history then when you try to instant book, and pay, your request will be denied. 

 

I don't really want to defend Airbnb, but you are literally going into someone else's home, so Airbnb filtering out some potentially bad guests may be good.

 

Edit2: Doesn't seem like Plaid will be used if you are paying with credit card, probably it's only used for debit card transactions since it describes making a small deposit 2 times to verify an account. 

Amy3034
Level 1
Littleton, CO

use Google Pay and it will let you put in your credit card info and you won't have to go through Plaid.