OpenAI links ChatGPT to banks

OpenAI on May 15 began rolling out a preview personal-finance experience inside ChatGPT for Pro users in the United States, adding the ability to connect bank, credit-card and investment accounts through Plaid. The company said users can view a dashboard showing spending, subscriptions, upcoming payments and portfolio performance, then ask questions based on that data. The launch is limited to a smaller initial group of U.S. Pro users on web and iOS, OpenAI said. Plaid said the feature uses its account-linking system, which connects to more than 12,000 financial institutions. ### Which users can connect accounts right now? OpenAI said the feature is available in preview to ChatGPT Pro users in the U.S., and only to a smaller group at launch while the company studies early use. The company said users can start from a new “Finances” entry in the sidebar or by typing “@Finances, connect my accounts” in a conversation. OpenAI said the rollout covers web and iOS first. (openai.com) ChatGPT Pro currently costs $100 a month, according to OpenAI’s help documentation. OpenAI said it plans to expand the finance feature to Plus users after the preview period, with the longer-term goal of broader availability. ### What does ChatGPT show after an account is linked? OpenAI said linked users get an up-to-date dashboard across portfolio performance, spending, subscriptions and upcoming payments. (openai.com) The company said ChatGPT can then answer prompts tied to that financial context, including questions about travel spending, goal planning, subscription reviews, investment risks and scenario planning. (help.openai.com) TechCrunch reported that the dashboard also covers bank, brokerage and credit-card accounts from firms including Schwab, Fidelity, Chase, Robinhood, American Express and Capital One. The publication said OpenAI plans to add Intuit support later, which would broaden the range of connected financial data. (openai.com) ### How is the data connection handled? Plaid on May 15 said OpenAI’s new experience is “powered by Plaid” and built around user-permissioned financial data. OpenAI said ChatGPT guides users through linking accounts through Plaid, and that authentication happens before data begins syncing and categorization. Plaid says its consumer linking product is used to connect financial accounts to apps without sharing bank credentials directly with the app itself. (techcrunch.com) Plaid says consumers can manage app connections through Plaid Portal, its account-management page for linked services. OpenAI said users can also remove connected accounts from Settings, and TechCrunch reported that synced financial data is removed from ChatGPT within 30 days after a service is disconnected. ### Why is OpenAI adding a finance-specific mode now? OpenAI said more than 200 million people already come to ChatGPT every month for budgeting, investing and other money questions. (plaid.com) The company said recent advances in GPT-5.5 improved reasoning on the “complex, context-dependent questions” common in personal finance. TechCrunch reported that OpenAI also worked with finance experts on a benchmark for personal-finance questions. (my.plaid.com) TechCrunch said the release comes about a month after OpenAI acquired the team behind personal-finance startup Hiro. OpenAI told the publication that Hiro’s finance expertise helped with the launch, though it did not say the whole product was built by that team. ### What safeguards has OpenAI described so far? (openai.com) OpenAI said users remain “in control” of their data and said ChatGPT is not a replacement for professional financial advice. The company also said users can view and delete financial memories from the Finances page. Those are the clearest public controls OpenAI has described so far in its launch post. Plaid on May 15 framed the launch as an example of “trusted financial data” being used for AI products. (techcrunch.com) Plaid’s public materials say its systems use encryption and permissioned data sharing, but neither Plaid’s post nor OpenAI’s launch note publicly detailed product-specific audit logging, data-retention architecture or least-privilege design for this rollout. That absence is based on what the companies disclosed in the materials reviewed here. (openai.com) ### What happens next in the rollout? OpenAI said the preview will expand only after it learns from early use by the initial U.S. Pro cohort. The company said Intuit support is coming soon, and that the next planned audience is ChatGPT Plus users. As of May 16, the product page remained labeled a preview for U.S. Pro users on web and iOS. (openai.com) (plaid.com)