Going live checklist

Going live means Plaid has approved your account for Production, your site is ready for real banks, and you have tested the full flow. Plaid's own checklist now lives in the Launch Center in the Plaid Dashboard, which replaced its old launch checklist page (Plaid (opens in a new tab)).

How do I get Plaid Production access?#

You request it in the Plaid Dashboard. Plaid offers two paths for new teams:

Sources: Plaid billing (opens in a new tab), Plaid pricing (opens in a new tab).

Plaid's OAuth guide (opens in a new tab) lists what comes next for banks that use OAuth: complete the Dashboard compliance center, fill in your application display information, accept the latest Master Services Agreement and pass the security questionnaire (US and Canada), then wait for OAuth approval. Plaid's error docs note that a newly approved account can take 1 to 2 days before some banks work, shown as INSTITUTION_REGISTRATION_REQUIRED (Institution errors (opens in a new tab)).

Do I need extra approvals for some products?#

Yes, for some.

• Transfer: Plaid's Transfer Application must be approved before Transfer goes live.
• Layer: starts with a request to Plaid's sales team.
• Stripe Payment Intents with Plaid: Plaid says Stripe must enable you manually.
• Your processor: if you use Auth with a processor, that processor approves you too.

The checklist#

Plaid account#

• Production access approved, or Trial plan active
• Company profile and application profile complete
• Security questionnaire approved (US and Canada)
• OAuth institutions approved
• Product approvals in place (Transfer, Layer, processor)
• Two-factor authentication on for every Dashboard user

Site#

• HTTPS on every page, valid certificate
• Production redirect URI added to Allowed redirect URIs and set in BankBridge
• Webhook URL reachable and answering within 10 seconds
• Pages with Link excluded from full page cache and script combining
• Content Security Policy allows cdn.plaid.com and production.plaid.com
• BankBridge set to Production with the Production secret
• License active so you receive updates

Payments and rules#

• Customer authorization text on checkout or signup pages for bank debits
• Account validation for first-time WEB debits (Nacha rule; Plaid Auth is one method)
• Written risk-based fraud procedures, reviewed yearly (Nacha Phase 2, effective June 22, 2026)
• Refund and failed payment process agreed with your team
• Privacy policy explains the bank data you collect

The Nacha items come from Nacha's WEB debit rule (opens in a new tab) and fraud monitoring Phase 2 (opens in a new tab). This is general information, not legal or financial advice. Ask your bank or processor what applies to you.

Live test#

• Connect your own real bank account
• Run one small real payment and one refund
• Trigger a reconnect (update mode) if you can
• Remove the test Item with /item/remove if you will not use it (on a Trial plan this does not free a slot)

Sources#

Checked October 23, 2026.

• Plaid, Launch checklist (opens in a new tab)
• Plaid, OAuth guide (opens in a new tab)
• Plaid, Billing (opens in a new tab)
• Plaid, Pricing (opens in a new tab)
• Plaid, Institution errors (opens in a new tab)
• Plaid, Transfer (opens in a new tab), Layer (opens in a new tab), Stripe partnership (opens in a new tab)
• Nacha, WEB debit account validation (opens in a new tab)
• Nacha, Fraud monitoring Phase 2 (opens in a new tab)

Plaid is a trademark of Plaid Inc. BankBridge is an independent plugin and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Plaid.