For data providers on the Plaid network
Plaid Exchange vs Core Exchange
How fintechs, card issuers and BaaS platforms get listed on Plaid’s network, and off screen scraping, in 2026.
What is Plaid Exchange?
Plaid Exchange is Plaid’s older integration for data providers: an API, on Plaid’s own schema, that let an institution share accounts and transactions with apps on the Plaid network. Plaid now publishes it for reference only and has closed it to new data partners. Plaid Core Exchange is its replacement: an API specification aligned with the FDX standard. A platform that implements Core Exchange and passes Plaid’s validation appears in Plaid Link under its own name and logo, so its customers connect through an API instead of handing over their password.
Plaid Exchange vs Core Exchange at a glance
| Plaid Exchange | Core Exchange | |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Legacy. Reference only, closed to new data partners | Current. Plaid’s supported provider integration |
| Specification | Plaid’s own schema (OAuth, users, transactions) | Aligned with the FDX standard |
| New integrations | Not accepted | Accepted, Plaid validates the API before listing |
| Existing integrations | Expected to migrate to Core Exchange | The migration target |
| Reuse beyond Plaid | Plaid only | FDX endpoints also fit other FDX readers, such as Intuit |
| How you appear | In Plaid Link after validation | In Plaid Link under your own name and logo |
Sources: Plaid’s Plaid Exchange documentation and Core Exchange product page.
Does Plaid still use screen scraping?
Where an institution has no API connection, Plaid has historically connected with the customer’s own credentials. That is shrinking: in September 2024 Plaid said 80% of its traffic was on or committed to APIs, after migrations with large banks such as Citi and Navy Federal Credit Union, and with core providers such as Fiserv, Jack Henry, Q2, Alkami and FIS bringing smaller banks along.
The remaining long tail is mostly fintechs: neobanks, card programs and BaaS brands that hold accounts but have no provider integration of their own. For them, the difference looks like this.
Credential-based connection
- Your customers type their password for your platform into a third-party screen
- Connections break whenever your login page or MFA flow changes
- You cannot see or revoke which apps hold access
- Your brand is not in control of the connection experience
Core Exchange (API) listing
- Customers sign in on your own domain and consent per account
- Stable, versioned endpoints instead of a login page being parsed
- Access is scoped and revocable, and you can see who holds it
- You are listed in Plaid Link under your own name and logo
How many fintechs have an API connection?
Not many publish one. Of the 100 US challenger banks and fintechs tracked by Open Banking Tracker (October 2026), 54 are reachable through Plaid, 14 run a public developer portal, and only 1 has a documented FDX API. Across all institutions, the tracker lists 20 banks, brokerages and credit unions with FDX APIs, almost all of them large banks.
Being reachable through Plaid does not say how: public data rarely shows whether a connection runs on an API or on credentials. What it does show is that most fintechs have no FDX provider of their own, which is the gap Core Exchange closes.
Who should build to Core Exchange
Any platform whose customers hold accounts or cards and want to connect them to other apps. Banks and credit unions usually get there through their core banking vendor; fintechs usually have to build it.
Neobanks and challenger banks
Customers link their accounts to budgeting, lending and accounting apps every day. An API listing replaces credential sharing for all of them at once.
Card issuers and spend management
Corporate card and expense platforms hold the transactions finance teams want in their books and in their apps.
BaaS and embedded banking platforms
One provider integration can cover every brand or program on the platform, instead of each program being connected separately.
Treasury, payouts and marketplaces
Platforms that hold balances on behalf of businesses, where account holders want the same data in Plaid-powered tools.
What implementing Core Exchange involves
Plaid says a Core Exchange integration can take as little as six weeks. The work is the provider itself:
- Run an OAuth 2.0 authorization server with your own login and a second factor
- Implement the FDX read endpoints: accounts, balances, transactions and account details
- Handle consent: which accounts each app can see, and revocation
- Pass Plaid’s validation before your listing goes live, then keep the endpoints healthy
Apideck Plaid Bank Feeds (in early access) runs that provider for you. You post accounts and statements to one Bank Feeds API, and Apideck operates the Core Exchange provider behind your listing, so your platform appears on the Plaid network under your own name. The same feed reaches QuickBooks Online through Intuit Bank Feeds and accounting platforms with native feeds. Apideck carries data only, never money.
Frequently asked questions
- What is Plaid Exchange?
- Plaid Exchange is Plaid’s older integration for data providers: an API specification, based on Plaid’s own schema, that let a financial institution share account, identity and transaction data with apps on the Plaid network over OAuth. Plaid now publishes it for reference only. New data partners are directed to Core Exchange, and existing Plaid Exchange integrations to a migration guide.
- What is Plaid Core Exchange?
- Core Exchange is Plaid’s current specification for data providers, aligned with the Financial Data Exchange (FDX) standard. A bank, credit union or fintech that implements it, and passes Plaid’s validation, appears in Plaid Link under its own name and logo, so its customers can connect accounts to apps on the Plaid network through an API instead of sharing credentials. Plaid describes integration as taking as little as six weeks and network access as being at no cost.
- Is Plaid Exchange the same as Core Exchange?
- No. Plaid Exchange is the legacy, Plaid-specific integration and is closed to new data partners. Core Exchange is the current one and follows the FDX standard. If you are starting today, build to Core Exchange; if you are on Plaid Exchange, Plaid expects you to migrate.
- Does Plaid use screen scraping?
- Historically, yes: where an institution offered no API, Plaid connected with the customer’s own credentials. Plaid has been moving that traffic to APIs, and said in September 2024 that 80% of its traffic was on or committed to APIs, including migrations with Citi and Navy Federal Credit Union. The remainder is the long tail of institutions and fintechs without an API connection, which is what Core Exchange is for.
- How do I get my fintech listed on Plaid?
- Implement Core Exchange, or use a provider that runs it for you, and pass Plaid’s validation. Banks and credit unions often get there through their core or digital banking vendor. Fintechs, card issuers and BaaS platforms usually build or buy the provider themselves. Apideck Plaid Bank Feeds runs the Core Exchange provider for you: you post accounts and statements to one API and Apideck handles the OAuth server, FDX endpoints, consent and validation.
- Is Core Exchange based on FDX?
- Yes. Plaid describes Core Exchange as financial data APIs built to FDX standards. FDX is the US and Canadian open banking API standard, recognized by the CFPB as a standard-setting body for Section 1033, so an FDX-aligned provider can also serve other FDX readers, not only Plaid.
Get your platform on Plaid’s network
One integration for Plaid through Core Exchange, QuickBooks Online through Intuit Bank Feeds, and native accounting feeds.