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AI Now Sees Your
Bank Account

Perplexity plugged Plaid into its AI. Connect your checking, credit cards, loans and investments, and it builds you a real budget, tracks your net worth and writes a debt payoff plan. It’s read-only, so it can see your accounts but can’t move money.

In April 2026, Perplexity connected Plaid to Computer, its AI agent (Perplexity’s announcement). Plaid is the data network behind apps like Venmo, and Plaid says more than half of Americans with bank accounts have used it to connect something.

So now you can link your bank, cards, loans, mortgage and brokerage accounts to Perplexity. It reads your real transactions, balances and debt, then builds tools from your actual money instead of a template.

Before you panic: Perplexity says the connection is read-only. It can’t move money, make transfers or pay bills. You log in to your bank through Plaid’s window, so Perplexity never sees your bank password, and Perplexity says your account data never touches its servers.

What You Need To Know

01

Who can use it

Signed-in users in the US and Canada, on desktop. Perplexity says mobile and more countries are coming, so check before you assume your phone works.

02

Free vs paid

Anyone can link accounts, use the Portfolio page and ask questions about their money. The deeper Computer tasks (custom budget builders, debt payoff planners, dashboards) are for Pro ($20/mo) and Max subscribers.

03

Banks supported

Plaid connects to 12,000+ financial institutions, including Chase, Fidelity, Schwab, Robinhood and Vanguard, plus many credit unions.

Connect Your Accounts
  1. On your computer, sign in at perplexity.ai and open the Portfolio page in Perplexity Finance.
  2. Click Connect Accounts. Plaid’s window opens.
  3. Search for your bank and log in with your online banking details, plus any two-factor code. This goes to Plaid, not Perplexity.
  4. Pick which accounts to share. Just checking, just cards or everything is your call.
  5. Repeat for each bank, then go back to Perplexity and paste a prompt below.

The more you connect, the more accurate these get. One credit card means it only sees that card. Changed your mind? You can disconnect any account anytime at my.plaid.com.

3 Prompts To Paste Into Perplexity

01

90-Day Budget Builder

Pulls every transaction from the last 3 months, categorizes your spending, finds every subscription and builds a budget based on what you actually spend.

Copy into Perplexity
You are my no-nonsense personal finance analyst. Pull every transaction from every connected account for the last 90 days. I want you to build me a real monthly budget based on what I actually spend, not what I think I spend. Step 1: Categorize every transaction. Go through every single transaction and sort them into these categories: - Housing (rent, mortgage, property tax, HOA, home insurance, repairs) - Transportation (car payment, gas, insurance, parking, tolls, rideshare, public transit) - Groceries (grocery stores only, not restaurants) - Dining out (restaurants, coffee shops, takeout, delivery apps, bars) - Subscriptions & memberships (streaming, software, gym, apps, news, boxes, anything recurring) - Utilities (electric, gas, water, internet, phone, trash) - Insurance (health, dental, vision, life, not car or home, those go above) - Shopping (clothes, household items, electronics, Amazon, Target, etc.) - Entertainment (movies, concerts, games, hobbies, sports, events) - Health & wellness (doctor, dentist, pharmacy, therapy, gym, supplements) - Personal care (haircuts, skincare, spa, grooming) - Debt payments (credit card payments, student loans, personal loans, separate from purchases) - Savings & investments (transfers to savings, brokerage deposits, retirement contributions) - Kids & family (childcare, school, activities, diapers, toys, if applicable) - Pets (vet, food, grooming, supplies, if applicable) - Gifts & donations (presents, charity, tipping beyond normal) - Cash & ATM (withdrawals, Venmo/Zelle if unclear what it was for) - Uncategorized (anything that doesn’t fit, flag these so I can sort them) Step 2: Calculate my monthly averages. For each category, show me: - Total spent in the last 90 days - Monthly average (total / 3) - Percentage of my total spending - Trend: is this category going up, down, or flat month over month? Step 3: Find every recurring charge. List every subscription, membership, and recurring charge you can find. For each one, show: - What it is (company name and what it appears to be) - How much it costs and how often (monthly, annually, weekly) - Annual cost (monthly amount x 12) - Which account it’s charged to Then add up the total: "You spend $[X] per month on subscriptions, which is $[X] per year." Flag any I might have forgotten about or haven’t used recently. Step 4: Show me income vs. spending. - Total monthly income (from all sources, paychecks, freelance, transfers in, interest, dividends) - Total monthly spending (everything above) - The gap: how much is left over each month (or how much I’m overspending) - My savings rate: what percentage of my income am I actually keeping? Step 5: Build my budget. Based on my actual spending, build me a recommended monthly budget. Use the 50/30/20 rule as a starting point (50% needs, 30% wants, 20% savings & debt payoff) but adjust it to be realistic for my situation. Don’t give me a fantasy budget I’ll never follow. Give me one that’s about 10 to 15% better than what I’m doing now. For each category, show: - What I currently spend (monthly average) - What I should target - The difference (how much I’d save by hitting the target) Step 6: Give me the hard truth. - What are the 3 biggest areas where I’m overspending relative to my income? - What’s the single easiest cut I could make that would save the most money? - What’s the single most important financial habit I should change based on this data? - If I followed this budget perfectly for 12 months, how much more would I have saved compared to my current pace? Format everything so I can read it on my phone. Clean tables, clear numbers, no essays. End with: "Want me to dig deeper into any category, or build you a savings plan based on this budget?" Ground rules: - Use only the data in my connected accounts. Never invent a transaction, balance or rate. - If an account, APR or minimum payment is missing from the data, say which one and ask me instead of guessing. - Show your math for every total so I can check it. - This is planning help, not financial advice. Flag anything I should run past a professional.

02

Full Net Worth Calculator

Lists every balance, separates assets from debts, calculates your debt-to-income ratio and savings rate, and projects your net worth 1, 3 and 5 years out.

Net worth snapshot
You are my personal finance analyst. Be precise and plain-spoken. I want a complete snapshot of my net worth across every connected account. Pull every balance, separate assets from liabilities, and tell me exactly where I stand financially right now. Step 1: List every account and its current balance. Go through every connected account and show me: ASSETS (things I own or have): - Checking accounts, name and balance for each - Savings accounts, name and balance for each - Investment/brokerage accounts, name, balance, and what’s in them (stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, bonds) - Retirement accounts (401k, IRA, Roth IRA), name and balance - Any other asset accounts connected LIABILITIES (things I owe): - Credit cards, name, current balance, credit limit, and interest rate (APR) for each - Student loans, name, remaining balance, interest rate - Auto loans, name, remaining balance, interest rate - Mortgage, remaining balance, interest rate, original loan amount - Personal loans, name, remaining balance, interest rate - Any other debt accounts connected Step 2: Calculate my net worth. - Total assets: $[X] - Total liabilities: $[X] - Net worth (assets minus liabilities): $[X] Step 3: Break down where my money actually is. Show me the percentage breakdown of my assets: - What percentage is sitting in cash (checking + savings)? - What percentage is invested (brokerage + retirement)? - Am I holding too much cash that could be earning more? - Am I too heavily invested in one thing? And the breakdown of my debt: - What percentage is “good debt” (mortgage, student loans with low rates)? - What percentage is “bad debt” (high-interest credit cards, personal loans)? - What’s my total monthly minimum payment across all debts? Step 4: Calculate my key financial ratios. - Debt-to-income ratio: total monthly debt payments / total monthly gross income. (Common lender rule of thumb: under 36% is comfortable, over 43% makes borrowing harder.) - Savings rate: monthly savings / monthly income. (A common target is 20%+.) - Emergency fund status: total cash savings / monthly expenses. How many months could I survive with no income? - Liquidity ratio: liquid assets (cash + easily accessible investments) / monthly expenses. Step 5: Identify the biggest levers. - What is the single biggest drag on my net worth right now? (Highest interest debt? No investments? Too much cash sitting idle?) - What is the single biggest opportunity to improve it? (Pay off a specific card? Start investing? Increase retirement contributions?) - If I could only do ONE thing this month to improve my financial position, what should it be? Step 6: Project my trajectory. Based on my current income, spending, savings rate, and debt payments, project my net worth: - In 1 year from now - In 3 years from now - In 5 years from now Then show me the alternative: if I followed the optimized budget from Prompt 1 (saving about 10 to 15% more), what would my net worth look like at those same milestones? Show the difference. Make it real: "By changing nothing, you’ll have $X in 5 years. By saving an extra $[amount]/month, you’ll have $[X], that’s $[difference] more." Format this as a clean financial snapshot I can screenshot and save. End with: "Want me to build a plan to improve any of these numbers, or dive deeper into a specific account?" Ground rules: - Use only the data in my connected accounts. Never invent a transaction, balance or rate. - If an account, APR or minimum payment is missing from the data, say which one and ask me instead of guessing. - Show your math for every total so I can check it. - This is planning help, not financial advice. Flag anything I should run past a professional.

03

Debt Payoff Plan

Lists every debt with its rate, builds avalanche and snowball plans side by side with month-by-month schedules, and flags high-interest cards worth a balance transfer.

Avalanche vs snowball
You are my debt payoff strategist. Be exact with numbers and kind but direct. I want a complete debt payoff plan. Pull every debt from my connected accounts, show me exactly what I owe, and build me two plans to get to zero. Make it specific. I want to see exact months, exact payments, and exactly how much interest I’m paying. Step 1: List every debt I have. For each debt account connected, show me: - Account name (which bank/card/lender) - Current balance - Interest rate (APR) - Minimum monthly payment - Credit limit (for credit cards) - Utilization percentage (for credit cards: balance / limit) Then show the totals: - Total debt across all accounts: $[X] - Total minimum monthly payments: $[X]/month - Weighted average interest rate across all debts: [X]% - Total credit card utilization: [X]% (common guidance: under 30% helps your score, lower is better) Step 2: Build Plan A, The Avalanche (highest interest first). This is the mathematically optimal strategy. You pay minimums on everything, then throw every extra dollar at the debt with the highest interest rate. When that one is paid off, you roll that payment into the next highest rate. Build a month-by-month schedule: - Month 1: Pay $[X] to [highest rate debt], minimums to everything else. Remaining balances: [list each] - Month 2: Same format - Continue until every debt hits $0 At the end, show me: - Total months to payoff: [X] months ([X] years and [X] months) - Total interest paid across all debts: $[X] - Monthly payment amount (total): $[X] - Payoff date: [Month Year] Step 3: Build Plan B, The Snowball (smallest balance first). This is the motivation strategy. You pay minimums on everything, then throw every extra dollar at the smallest balance. Quick wins build momentum. Build the same month-by-month schedule: - Show when each debt gets eliminated (the "win" moments) - Show the snowball growing as each debt disappears and its payment rolls into the next one At the end, show me: - Total months to payoff: [X] months - Total interest paid: $[X] - Payoff date: [Month Year] Step 4: Compare the two plans side by side. Show a clear comparison: - Avalanche: pays off in [X] months, total interest: $[X] - Snowball: pays off in [X] months, total interest: $[X] - Difference: Snowball costs $[X] more in interest but you eliminate your first debt [X] months sooner - My recommendation: [which one and why, based on my specific debt situation] Step 5: Show me what extra payments would do. Calculate what happens if I pay more than the minimums: - Current minimums only: payoff in [X] months, $[X] total interest - Add $100/month extra: payoff in [X] months, $[X] total interest, saves $[X] - Add $250/month extra: payoff in [X] months, $[X] total interest, saves $[X] - Add $500/month extra: payoff in [X] months, $[X] total interest, saves $[X] Make it visual, I want to see exactly how much time and money each extra payment level saves me. Step 6: Flag anything urgent. - Any debt over 20% APR: flag it and estimate how much a 0% intro APR balance transfer could save over a typical intro period, after a typical 3 to 5% transfer fee - Any 0% intro APR cards I currently have: when does the promotional rate expire? What will the rate jump to? How much should I try to pay off before that date? - Any accounts close to their credit limit (over 80% utilization): flag the credit score impact - If my debt-to-income ratio is over 43%: flag it and explain why lenders treat that as a warning sign - If I’m only making minimum payments on everything: show me how much of each payment goes to interest vs. principal. (This is usually the wake-up call.) Step 7: Give me my action items. Based on everything above, give me exactly 3 things to do this week: 1. The single most impactful payment to make (which account, how much, why) 2. One thing to research or apply for (balance transfer, consolidation, refinance) 3. One spending cut from my budget that would free up the most cash for debt payoff Format the full plan so I can save it and track my progress. End with: "Want me to build a monthly tracker, adjust the plan for a different extra payment amount, or look into balance transfer options for your highest-rate cards?" Ground rules: - Use only the data in my connected accounts. Never invent a transaction, balance or rate. - If an account, APR or minimum payment is missing from the data, say which one and ask me instead of guessing. - Show your math for every total so I can check it. - This is planning help, not financial advice. Flag anything I should run past a professional.
What You Walk Away With

01

A budget from your real spending

Built from 90 days of your actual transactions, categorized and compared with what you could be spending.

02

Your net worth in one number

Every asset and every debt, plus your debt-to-income ratio, savings rate, emergency fund months and a 1, 3 and 5 year projection.

03

A debt payoff plan with dates

Avalanche vs snowball side by side, with total interest and the month you hit zero.

04

Every subscription you forgot

Each recurring charge with its annual cost and which account it hits.