Plain answers to the questions you should be asking
You're trusting us with a picture of your financial life. Here's exactly how that works — no vague reassurances, no claims we can't back up.
We never see your bank password. Ever.
When you connect an account on Clearway Plus, you don't type your bank credentials into Clearway. Here's the actual flow:
- You sign in on the connection provider's page, a dedicated service whose whole business is secure bank connections (the same kind used by major banking and budgeting apps). Your credentials go to them and your bank — never through Clearway's servers.
- Clearway receives a limited, revocable token, which lets us read transactions and balances — nothing else.
- Access is read-only. Clearway cannot move, send, or withdraw money. There is no code path in the product that touches your funds.
- You can disconnect anytime. One click in settings revokes the token. Prefer not to connect at all? CSV import gives you the same product with zero connections.
The short version
Think of it like a hotel giving housekeeping a key card that only opens one room, only during the day, and can be deactivated at the front desk — instead of handing over the master key.
The connection provider holds the relationship with your bank. Clearway only ever holds a narrow, revocable permission to read your transactions.
The protections in place
Encryption everywhere
Data is encrypted in transit (TLS) between your device, Clearway, and the connection provider, and encrypted at rest in our database. Backups are encrypted too.
Multi-factor sign-in
Add a second step to your sign-in — an authenticator app code — so a stolen password alone isn't enough to open your account. We'll prompt you to set it up; we recommend you do.
A record of every change
Raw imported data is never overwritten. Corrections create new versions, so there's always an audit trail of what changed, when, and why — for your protection as much as ours.
Used for your numbers. Not for anything else.
What we do with your data
- Categorize your transactions and suggest personal/business splits — the suggestions you review and confirm.
- Calculate your tax estimate, budget, and reports — the entire point of the product.
- Send you the notifications you've asked for, like "your estimate changed" or "quarterly payment coming up."
What we will not do
- We do not sell your data — not to advertisers, data brokers, or anyone else.
- We do not use your data for advertising — no ad targeting, no "offers" driven by your spending.
- We do not move money or file taxes — Clearway has no ability to touch your funds or submit anything on your behalf.
- We do not hold your data hostage — export everything anytime, and if you delete your account, your data is deleted from our systems on a stated schedule.
An honest note about certifications
Clearway is a young product. We follow industry-standard security practices — the ones described on this page — but we won't claim badges we haven't earned: we are not yet SOC 2 audited, and we won't say otherwise until an independent auditor has actually verified it. When that happens, you'll read it here first. In the meantime, if you have a security question this page doesn't answer, email security@clearway.example and a human will answer it directly.
Start without connecting anything
Not ready to link an account? Fair. Upload a CSV instead — the free plan never requires a bank connection.
Start freeNo card required. Cancel anytime. Estimates only — not tax advice.