Why bank connections break, and how reconnecting works

A bank connection breaks because the bank ended the session it had granted, and banks do that for ordinary reasons: you changed your password, you turned on two-factor authentication, the bank's security policy expires app access every few months, or the bank changed something on its side. Nothing about your data is lost. The app keeps everything it already synced, and the live feed pauses until you sign in again inside the connection window. After that, syncing resumes on the same accounts, and the days that were missed fill in.

What connected actually means

When you connect a bank, the bank grants a session, and the connection service uses it every day to fetch new balances and transactions. The session is valid until the bank says otherwise. "Expired" or "needs attention" means the bank has stopped honoring it, and the app can't read anything new until a fresh sign-in produces a fresh session.

The break is always on the bank's side of the line. The app didn't lose your login, because it never had it, and the connection service can't renew the session without you, because the bank wants to see you sign in.

The reasons connections break

The first three cover most breaks, and the third is the one that surprises people: some banks require you to re-authorize app access on a fixed schedule, and a reconnect request with nothing changed is that policy at work, not a fault.

Reconnect, step by step

1. Find the connection marked as expired or needing attention in the app's connection settings.
2. Choose reconnect. The connection window opens for that bank.
3. Sign in, on the bank's own page or on the service's form, and complete any two-factor code the bank sends.
4. Confirm the same accounts. The window lists what was shared before; keep the selection so the accounts continue rather than duplicate.
5. Let it sync. The missed transactions arrive within minutes, and balances catch up. Categories, renames, and rules on the existing history are untouched.
6. If it fails, wait a few minutes and try again. Banks have outages. If it keeps failing, check that you can sign in on the bank's own site, since a locked account fails everywhere.

A worked example, as a timeline

Four days of gap, filled in on Friday. The budget saw the Tuesday bill as expected until Friday, then as paid on its real date, and the net worth line picked up on Friday where it had paused.

What a break does not do

A break doesn't delete history, doesn't change a category, and doesn't touch your bank account. It is not a sign of a breach; if anything, a bank that expires sessions is doing what it should. What a break does is freeze the picture: balances stay at their last value, so net worth reads stale, and new transactions don't arrive, so the budget's spent figures stop moving. The longer the gap, the further the picture drifts from the account, which is the only reason to reconnect promptly rather than eventually.

Common mistakes

• Ignoring the notice for months. The picture drifts, and a very long gap can exceed what the bank will hand back when you reconnect.
• Removing the connection instead of reconnecting it. Reconnecting keeps the accounts and their history; removing starts over.
• Reconnecting again and again during a bank outage. Wait a day.
• Following a link in an email to reconnect. Reconnect from inside the app, so the window you type into is the one the app opened.
• Connecting the bank a second time as a new connection, which produces duplicate accounts. Reconnect the existing one.
• Blaming the app for the bank's schedule. A reconnect every few months with nothing changed is the bank's policy.

Common questions

Is an expired connection a sign that something is wrong? No. Banks end sessions after password changes, after two-factor changes, and on schedules of their own. An expired connection is housekeeping, and reconnecting takes a minute.

Why does my bank make me reconnect every few months? Some banks require you to re-authorize third-party access on a fixed schedule, often around every ninety days, as a security policy. Nothing you did caused it, and nothing you do prevents it.

Will I lose my transaction history? No. Everything already synced stays, with its categories and edits, and reconnecting resumes on the same accounts. The missed days fill in once the session is fresh.

What if reconnecting keeps failing? Wait a few minutes and try again. Then confirm you can sign in on the bank's own site, since a locked account fails everywhere. If the bank works and the reconnect still doesn't, the app's support team can see what the bank is returning.

Do I have to reconnect each account separately? No. One connection covers every account you shared at that institution, and reconnecting it restores all of them at once.

How Zypper handles this

Zypper marks a connection as expired when your bank ends the session, stops syncing it, and emails you, and that email is the one notification worth acting on the day it arrives. Your data is untouched: history and categorization are preserved, and only the live feed is paused. In the connections settings, each institution shows its status, the accounts it provides, and when it last updated, and a connection needing attention has a reconnect action that opens the Plaid window; sign in to your bank there and syncing resumes on the same accounts, with the missed transactions backfilling. Reconnecting takes a few clicks. If it keeps failing, wait a few minutes and try again, since banks have temporary outages, and if it still fails, remove the connection and connect the institution fresh, or contact support. See Fixing an expired or broken connection and Checking connection status and refreshing for the details, or get started with Zypper to connect your accounts.