Bank Feed
What is a bank feed?
A bank feed is an automatic, live connection between your cloud accounting software and your business bank account. Instead of manually exporting a CSV from your bank’s website and importing it into your accounting tool, a bank feed pulls transactions automatically — typically daily or in near-real-time.
Bank feeds are the single feature that most reduces manual bookkeeping time. Without a bank feed, you spend hours each month on data entry. With a working bank feed, reconciliation becomes primarily a categorisation task.
How bank feeds work
UK — Open Banking (PSD2): UK banks are required by law to provide an Open Banking API that third parties can connect to with your consent. Cloud accounting tools connect via authorised third-party providers (TrueLayer is the most common) using this API. The connection is regulated, reliable, and does not require your bank login credentials.
US — Plaid and Yodlee: In the US, there is no equivalent regulatory mandate for bank APIs. Connections are made via third-party aggregators like Plaid (used by Wave, Zoho Books) and Yodlee (used by some QBO connections). Some US banks also offer direct feeds. Reliability varies by bank.
Direct bank connections: Some banks have direct data-sharing agreements with accounting software vendors (e.g., some Chase and Bank of America accounts have direct QBO feeds). These are the most reliable US connections.
Bank feed quality by tool (from our testing)
In our testing across 400 transactions:
| Tool | UK bank feed | US bank feed | Import accuracy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Xero | TrueLayer (Open Banking) | Plaid | 399/400 (99.75%) |
| QuickBooks Online | Not available for UK MTD | Plaid + direct | 396/400 (99%) |
| Wave | No UK Open Banking | Plaid | 387/400 (96.75%) |
| Zoho Books | Limited UK coverage | Plaid | 391/400 (97.75%) |
| FreshBooks | No UK Open Banking | Plaid | 385/400 (96.25%) |
For UK businesses, Xero’s TrueLayer connection is the most reliable option we tested.
Bank feeds and MTD ITSA
HMRC’s Making Tax Digital for Income Tax Self-Assessment (MTD ITSA) requires digital record-keeping. Using a bank feed that automatically imports and categorises transactions is the most efficient way to maintain the digital records HMRC requires. Manual CSV import also qualifies — but the bank feed route is significantly less time-consuming.
This glossary entry is for informational purposes only. It is not financial advice. Test connection quality with your specific bank before committing to a tool.