Claude can now read your bank transactions, but disconnecting the account leaves a trail
Claude can now answer questions about spending and bills using data from linked financial accounts. Anthropic is rolling out its Personal Finance feature in beta to Pro, Max and Ultra subscribers in the United States, with bank connections handled through Plaid.
The connection is read-only: Anthropic says Claude cannot move, manage or invest the money in those accounts. But it can see sensitive financial information the user chooses to share, including balances and up to two years of transactions.
There is another detail worth knowing before linking an account. Disconnecting a bank stops future reads, but information already included in chats, shared links or artifacts remains there until it is removed, according to Anthropic’s help documentation.
Image: Anthropic
What Claude can see
The new feature is designed to answer questions such as where spending went, whether a subscription has become more expensive or what bills are coming up. Anthropic also says Claude can turn connected data into charts, calendars and dashboards.
Image: Anthropic
Users sign in through Plaid and choose which accounts to share. Anthropic says Claude does not ask for or receive the bank password. For connected accounts, the service can read the institution and account names, account types, last four digits, balances, credit limits and up to 24 months of transaction data.
Its help page adds an exception to the account-number shorthand: if a bank includes a full number in an account name or transaction description, Claude may see it there. For investments, loans and cards, the documentation says Claude reads balances and credit limits, not holdings, trades, rates or terms.
Image: Anthropic
Unlinking and privacy settings
Anthropic says conversations inside the Personal Finance hub are not used to train its models. Information shared outside that hub is subject to the user’s ordinary privacy settings. Claude can also use linked accounts in regular chats, and the help page says it normally reads them without asking each time unless the user changes the connector settings.
Unlinking a bank stops Claude reading it. It does not automatically erase figures that have already appeared in a chat, an artifact or a shared link. Anthropic also says linked banks remain connected when a paid plan ends, even though the user cannot open Personal Finance or use the connection in chats without eligible access.
The beta is rolling out gradually on web, desktop, iOS and Android; eligible subscribers may not see it yet. Anthropic says balances can be a day or two old, Claude can make mistakes, and the feature is not designed to provide investment advice. Important figures should be checked against the bank’s own records.
