Is Plaid Settlement a Scam? Class Action Lawsuit and Litigation
The Plaid Settlement is not a scam. A settlement has been proposed in class action litigation against Plaid Inc. (“Plaid”). Approximately 5,000 mobile and web-based applications (“apps”) use Plaid to enable users to connect the app to the users' bank account(s). This class action alleges Plaid took certain improper actions in connection with this process. The allegations include that Plaid: (1) obtained more financial data than was needed by a user's app, and (2) obtained log-in credentials (username and password) through its user interface, known as “Plaid Link,” which had the look and feel of the user's own bank account login screen, when users were actually providing their login credentials directly to Plaid. Plaid denies these allegations and any wrongdoing and maintains that it adequately disclosed and maintained transparency about its practices to consumers.
You may be a Class Member if you are a United States resident and you connected a financial account to an app between January 1, 2013 and November 19, 2021. More specifically, you are a Class Member if you own or owned one or more “Financial Accounts” (defined in Question 7) that Plaid accessed using your login credentials and connected to a mobile or web-based app that enables payments or other money transfers; or for which you provided Financial Account login credentials to Plaid through Plaid Link; between January 1, 2013 and November 19, 2021.
To confirm whether specific apps or services that connected to your financial account(s) used Plaid for account connections, you can run a search on the SEARCH FOR APP/SERVICE page of this website by clicking here.
Under the Settlement, Plaid has agreed to minimize the data it stores going forward, to delete certain previously retrieved data, and to improve and maintain certain already-implemented enhancements to Plaid Link. Class Members are also able to view and manage the connections they've made between their financial accounts and chosen applications using Plaid, and delete data stored in Plaid's systems by creating a Plaid Portal account, at my.plaid.com.
In addition, the Settlement establishes a $58 million Settlement Fund, to be used for cash payments to Class Members who submit valid claims for compensation, after deducting the costs of the settlement administration, court-approved attorneys' fees and expenses, and Service Awards for eleven Class Representatives. The amount of monetary payments issued to Class Members will depend on the number of valid claims received. In exchange for the benefits the Settlement provides, Class Members will release any and all claims they may have (whether known or unknown) regarding the allegations in the Complaint.
The Court will decide whether to approve the proposed Settlement. If approved, the Settlement will resolve the litigation entitled In re Plaid Inc. Privacy Litigation, Case No. 4:20-md-03056, which is pending before Judge Donna M. Ryu in the Northern District of California.
To submit a claim or for more information, please only go to www.plaidsettlement.com
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