> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.getasset.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Bank integrations

Asset integrates with Plaid to securely access banking data from over 11,000 U.S. financial institutions. Leveraging Plaid is crucial for automating the collection of [Transaction](/getstarted/CoreConcepts#transactions) data from your [Businesses'](/getstarted/CoreConcepts#businesses-your-smb-customers). Plaid connections allow you to pull up to 24 months of historical Transactions and keep new Transactions synced daily.

There are two ways to connect with Plaid in Asset:

1. Use Asset’s Plaid Connection
2. Use your own Plaid Connection

### How to use Asset’s Plaid Integration

If your platform doesn’t already have a Plaid integration, Asset makes it simple to connect to your Businesses' [bank accounts and credit cards](/getstarted/CoreConcepts#accounts). We take care of all the technical details for you.

1. **Add the Plaid Link Component**\
   Insert Asset’s Plaid Link component into your product. This component will securely connect to your Businesses’ accounts and guide them through granting read-only access to their financial data.
2. **Begin Importing Data**\
   After a Business grants access, Asset automatically ingests the Transaction data from Plaid and converts it into [Journal Entries](/getstarted/CoreConcepts#journal-entry).

### How to use your own Plaid Integration

If your platform already has a Plaid integration, you can grant Asset access to your Businesses' Transaction data via a [Plaid Processor Token](https://plaid.com/docs/api/processors/). Here are the steps to do this:

1. **Obtain a Processor Token from Plaid**\
   Generate a Processor Token associated with the bank accounts you wish to share with Asset. Use [Processor/Token/Create](https://plaid.com/docs/api/processors/#processortokencreate) from Plaid’s APIs.
2. **Provide the Token to Asset**\
   Send the Processor Token to Asset through the secure API. This enables Asset to link your existing Plaid integration to its accounting tools.
3. **Confirm Connection**\
   Once the token is validated, Asset will begin ingesting Transaction data from your Businesses’ connections. Transactions are then automatically transformed into Journal Entries.

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