Disconnecting or Reconnecting a Bank Feed

Bank connections are not always permanent. You may need to disconnect an account when switching banks, reconnect after a password change, or re-authenticate when your bank requires it. This guide covers all of these scenarios and explains what happens to your existing data in each case.

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When to Disconnect a Bank Feed

Common reasons to disconnect a Plaid connection:

• Closing the bank account — The account is being closed, and you no longer need transactions from it.
• Switching banks — Your church is moving to a new bank. You will disconnect the old account and connect the new one.
• Security concern — You want to revoke all third-party connections to your bank as a precaution.
• Cleaning up unused connections — An account was connected for testing or evaluation and is no longer needed.
• Reducing connected accounts — You are downgrading your plan and need to reduce the number of connected accounts.

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How to Disconnect

1. Navigate to Finance > Bank Feeds.
2. Locate the account card for the bank feed you want to disconnect.
3. Click the gear icon on the account card, or click the account name to open the detail view and navigate to the Settings tab.
4. Scroll to the Connection section.
5. Click Disconnect Account.

6. A confirmation dialog appears with a summary of what will happen:
   • Syncing will stop immediately.
   • No new transactions will be pulled.
   • All existing transaction data will be preserved.
   • The Plaid access token will be revoked.
7. Type the account display name to confirm (e.g., "Operating Checking — Regions").
8. Click Confirm Disconnect.

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What Happens to Your Data After Disconnecting

When you disconnect a bank feed, the following data is preserved:

The disconnected account still appears in the Bank Feeds list but is marked with a Disconnected badge (gray). You can still filter and view its historical transactions, run reports that include its data, and access all matched records.

The only thing that stops is the flow of new data. No new transactions will be pulled, and no AI categorization will run on this account going forward.

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Reconnecting the Same Account

If you disconnected an account and want to resume syncing to the same bank account:

1. Navigate to Finance > Bank Feeds.
2. Click Connect Account to start a new Plaid Link session.
3. Select the same bank, log in with your credentials, and select the same account.
4. Plaid treats this as a new connection and issues a new access token.

What Happens on Reconnection

• Transaction history backfill — Plaid will pull the most recent 30-90 days of transaction history (varies by bank). Transactions that already exist in Wired Church from the previous connection are detected as duplicates and will not be added again.
• Existing data links — The reconnected account is treated as a new connection internally, but Wired Church detects that the account (by bank and last-four digits) was previously connected. You will be prompted to link the new connection to the existing account record.
• Categorization patterns preserved — If you link the new connection to the existing account record, all AI learning and categorization patterns carry forward seamlessly.

5. Click Yes, link to existing account to resume where you left off.
6. Click Sync Now to pull the latest transactions immediately.

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Connecting a Different Account

If you are switching to an entirely new bank or a different account at your current bank:

1. Navigate to Finance > Bank Feeds.
2. Click Connect Account.
3. Go through the Plaid Link flow for the new bank and account.
4. Name the new account with a clear, descriptive label.
5. Map it to the correct chart of accounts entry — this is critical:
   • If the new account replaces the old one (e.g., you moved your operating checking to a new bank), map it to the same chart of accounts asset account that the old connection used.
   • If this is a genuinely new account (e.g., adding a second checking account), create a new asset account in your chart of accounts first, then map the new connection to it.

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Re-Authentication

Sometimes your bank requires you to re-confirm the Plaid connection without disconnecting. This is different from disconnecting and reconnecting — the Plaid connection remains intact, but the bank needs fresh credentials.

Common Triggers for Re-Authentication

• Password change — You changed your online banking password. Plaid's stored credentials are now invalid.
• MFA update — You added, removed, or changed your multi-factor authentication method.
• Bank security policy — Some banks require third-party connections to re-authenticate periodically (every 90-180 days).
• Bank system update — Your bank updated its online banking platform, which can invalidate existing Plaid sessions.
• Account access change — The banking user whose credentials were used had their access level changed or their account locked.

Signs You Need to Re-Authenticate

Look for these indicators in the Bank Feeds dashboard:

1. Connection Error badge — A red badge appears on the account card with the text "Connection Error" or "Requires Attention."
2. Sync failures — The Sync History tab shows consecutive failed syncs with error messages like "ITEM_LOGIN_REQUIRED" or "INVALID_CREDENTIALS."
3. Stale data — The "Last synced" timestamp on the account card is several days old, and manual sync attempts fail.

How to Re-Authenticate

1. Navigate to Finance > Bank Feeds.
2. Click the account card showing the Connection Error badge.
3. Click the Re-authenticate button (or Fix Connection — the label varies).
4. The Plaid Link modal opens, pre-selected to your bank.
5. Enter your current bank credentials (the new password, if you changed it).
6. Complete any MFA challenges your bank presents.
7. Click Submit to re-establish the connection.

8. The Connection Error badge disappears.
9. Click Sync Now to immediately pull any transactions that were missed during the disconnection period.

What Happens During Re-Authentication

• No data is lost. All existing transactions, categorizations, and matches remain intact.
• Missed transactions are backfilled. Plaid pulls transactions from where the last successful sync left off, up to the bank's backfill limit (typically 30-90 days).
• AI categorization resumes. Any newly synced transactions are processed by the AI categorization engine automatically.
• Your display name and chart of accounts mapping are unchanged. Re-authentication only refreshes the bank credentials — all Wired Church configuration is preserved.

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Monitoring Connection Health

Good practice is to check your bank feed connections regularly to ensure they are actively syncing:

Monthly Connection Check

1. Navigate to Finance > Bank Feeds.
2. Review each account card:
   • Last synced timestamp should be within the last 24 hours for active connections.
   • Status should show a green "Connected" badge.
   • Sync History tab should show consistent daily successes.
3. If any account shows a warning or error, address it immediately using the re-authentication steps above.

Notifications

Wired Church sends notifications when a bank feed connection has an issue:

• In-app notification — A bell icon badge appears in the admin header when a connection error is detected.
• Email notification — Org admins receive an email after 48 hours of consecutive sync failures, with a direct link to the re-authentication screen.

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Managing Multiple Connections

If your church has several connected accounts, the Bank Feeds dashboard provides a summary view:

From this view, you can quickly identify which accounts need attention and take action without drilling into each one individually.

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Revoking Plaid Access From Your Bank's Side

In addition to disconnecting from within Wired Church, you can revoke Plaid's access directly through your bank:

1. Log in to your bank's website or mobile app.
2. Navigate to Settings > Security > Connected Apps (the exact path varies by bank).
3. Find "Plaid" or "Wired Church" in the list of authorized third-party connections.
4. Click Revoke or Remove Access.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Does disconnecting delete my financial reports? No. Financial reports are generated from contribution records, journal entries, and fund balances — not from the bank feed directly. Disconnecting a bank feed has no impact on any reports.

Can I reconnect after months of being disconnected? Yes. You can reconnect at any time. Plaid will backfill recent transaction history (typically 30-90 days). Transactions from the gap period between disconnection and reconnection that fall outside the backfill window will not be recovered through Plaid — you would need to import those manually via OFX/QFX file upload.

What if I connected the wrong account by mistake? Disconnect it immediately using the steps above. No harm is done — any transactions that synced can be excluded or deleted from the bank feed. Then connect the correct account.

Do I need to re-authenticate if I get a new debit card? Usually not. Debit card replacement does not typically affect online banking credentials or Plaid connections. However, if your bank resets your online banking access as part of the card replacement process, re-authentication may be required.

Is there a way to temporarily pause syncing without disconnecting? Not currently. The connection is either active or disconnected. If you need to pause syncing temporarily, you can disconnect and reconnect later — just be aware of the potential backfill limitations described above.

Who can disconnect or reconnect bank feeds? Only users with write permission on the finance module can manage bank feed connections. Read-only finance users can view transactions but cannot modify connection settings.

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Related Articles

• Connecting Your Bank Account via Plaid
• How Transaction Syncing Works
• AI Auto-Categorization
• Matching Bank Transactions to Contributions