Why link your accounts
Linking is optional. It exists so your “home fund” in the app can stay aligned with balances you already hold—without retyping numbers every week.
What linking is for
In the HomeStart iOS app, Plaid is used to:
- Let you securely connect eligible financial institutions through Plaid Link (the standard Plaid consumer flow).
- Refresh account and balance information so totals feeding your plan reflect recent data (subject to institution availability and Plaid).
- Support your own allocation choices—which accounts count and how much of each balance is treated as down payment, closing, reserves, or general home savings.
What linking is not for
- We do not use Plaid to apply for loans or make credit decisions inside the app.
- We do not sell your personal information to advertisers for unrelated ad targeting.
- The app is not a bank and does not move money on your behalf through Plaid.
How the connection works (technical)
After you sign in with Firebase, the app requests a link token from HomeStart’s backend (Firebase Cloud Functions). That starts Plaid Link on your device. When you finish Link, a short-lived public token is exchanged on the server for Plaid access credentials. Long-lived tokens and connection data needed to refresh balances are kept in our secure backend environment—not embedded in the client app. Institution and account metadata and balances used for your plan are stored under your user ID in Firestore so the app can display and update your home fund. Retention and deletion are described in our Privacy Policy.
If you choose not to link
You can still use HomeStart with manual funding entries and typed-in savings amounts. Linking only automates balance readouts you would otherwise maintain yourself.