The Connect a bank account step is first on Getting Started for a reason the checklist states plainly: “Everything else on this page starts with one account.”
The three ways in
Which ones you have depends on the country of the bank.
- Connect automatically, for the United States and Canada, through Plaid. The onboarding screen says “Powered by Plaid · 12,000+ banks”. This is a paid feature, and the onboarding step offers a 14-day free trial, no credit card required.
- Add the bank by hand, available everywhere including the US and Canada, free on every plan. You create the accounts and bring transactions in yourself.
- Forward a statement, where you email a statement to Finthy and we read it for you.
Connecting automatically
Choose your country, then Connect your bank. Plaid’s own window opens, you sign in there, and you pick which accounts to bring across. Finthy never sees your bank password.
Then you get “Syncing your accounts”, with the note “We’re securely importing your accounts and transactions. This usually takes less than a minute.”
If that turns into “We couldn’t finish syncing”, read what it says: “We’re having trouble importing your accounts. You can continue, and we’ll keep trying in the background.” Continue to dashboard is the right move. It has not failed, and the import carries on without you watching it.
Adding a bank by hand
The screen is Add Your First Account, “Choose your bank to get started”. Pick the bank, create the account, and then Finthy asks how you want to add transactions:
- Upload a statement, which accepts a PDF, a screenshot or a spreadsheet.
- Add transactions by hand, to type in a few recent expenses.
- Skip for now, and go to the dashboard.
When the dashboard still looks empty
The dashboard names the exact situation rather than showing a blank page. The message you get tells you what to do:
- “Your bank is connected. No accounts have come through yet.” Most banks answer within a few minutes. If nothing appears, no account may have been selected during sign-in, or the selected ones were since removed. Check the connection.
- “Your bank is added. It has no accounts yet.” This is a manual bank, so nothing arrives on its own. Add an account.
- “Every account here is hidden.” Hidden accounts are left out of every total and every list. Nothing has been deleted. Show an account.
- “Your account is set up. No balance has come through yet.”
Linked banks bring 90 days
A linked bank sends roughly the last 90 days by itself. For anything older, import a statement. The dashboard says as much where your transactions would be: “Linked banks send the last 90 days on their own. For everything else, a statement works.”
You can start without a bank
Works right now on the dashboard lists what needs no account at all: set a budget, put your bills in the calendar, add what you already own to the financial inventory, or project what regular saving turns into. “None of these needs a single transaction.”