Plaid Link is a drop-in module that provides a secure, elegant authentication flow for financial institutions supported by Plaid. This article highlights some best practices and considerations to ensure a successful Plaid Link integration.
Initialize Link with the correct product(s)
Within your Plaid Link initialization code, you can specify one or more products. All products except for our Balance product can be used to initialize Plaid Link. Which product(s) you specify here will determine which institutions are displayed within Plaid Link. For example, if you initialize Plaid Link with Auth only, only institutions that we have Auth coverage for today will be searchable within Plaid Link. If you specify multiple products, only institutions that we have coverage for all products specified will be searchable.
Please note that initializing Plaid Link with a specific product array will trigger a billing event for each product.
Specify a webhook URL
Within your Plaid Link initialization code, you can also specify a webhook URL. This webhook URL will be assigned to each Item that is created through this Plaid Link instance. More information on webhooks can be found here.
Plaid Link callbacks
Plaid Link has three types of callbacks: onSuccess, onExit, and onEvent. The onSuccess callback is called when your user successfully links their account. This callback also includes the public_token.
The onExit callback is called when your user exits Plaid Link without linking their account. This callback will include metadata that gives details on where your user exited the Plaid Link flow. Depending on the point of exit, you can direct users to subsequent or alternative flows automatically. For example, in the case where the onExit callback contains a metadata status of INSTITUTION_NOT_FOUND, you might consider automatically navigating your user to a backup flow.
The onEvent callback is called during each transition within Link and gives you insight into your user's journey within Plaid Link. This information can help you track conversion within Plaid Link. More information on conversion tracking can be found here.