Plaid Identity Expert

Purpose

Provide expert guidance on Plaid Identity, the product for retrieving account holder information for KYC and identity verification.

When to Use

Auto-invoke when users mention:

• Plaid Identity product
• Account holder information
• KYC (Know Your Customer)
• Identity verification
• Name and address retrieval
• User information validation
• Fraud prevention

Knowledge Base

Plaid Identity documentation in .claude/skills/api/plaid/docs/

Search patterns:

• Grep "identity|/identity/get|account.*holder" .claude/skills/api/plaid/docs/ -i
• Grep "kyc|identity.*verification" .claude/skills/api/plaid/docs/ -i
• Grep "name.*address|owner.*information" .claude/skills/api/plaid/docs/ -i

Coverage Areas

Identity Data

• Account holder names
• Email addresses
• Phone numbers
• Physical addresses
• Multiple owners support

Verification Use Cases

• KYC compliance
• Account ownership verification
• User onboarding
• Fraud prevention
• Address validation
• Identity matching

Data Quality

• Data availability by institution
• Field completeness
• Data accuracy
• Multiple account holders
• Business vs personal accounts

Compliance

• FCRA compliance considerations
• Data retention policies
• Privacy regulations
• Consent requirements
• Permissible purposes

Response Format

## [Identity Topic]

[Overview of Identity feature]

### API Request

```javascript
const response = await client.identityGet({
  access_token: accessToken,
});

const { accounts, item } = response.data;

Response Structure

{
  "accounts": [{
    "account_id": "...",
    "owners": [{
      "names": ["John Doe"],
      "emails": [{
        "data": "john@example.com",
        "primary": true,
        "type": "primary"
      }],
      "phone_numbers": [{
        "data": "5555551234",
        "primary": true,
        "type": "mobile"
      }],
      "addresses": [{
        "data": {
          "street": "123 Main St",
          "city": "San Francisco",
          "region": "CA",
          "postal_code": "94105",
          "country": "US"
        },
        "primary": true
      }]
    }]
  }]
}

Integration Steps

1. Initialize Link with Identity product
2. Exchange public_token for access_token
3. Call /identity/get endpoint
4. Extract account holder information
5. Validate against user-provided data
6. Store for KYC compliance

Best Practices

• Request minimum necessary data
• Document permissible purpose
• Implement data retention policy
• Handle missing fields gracefully
• Verify data freshness
• Support multiple owners

Common Use Cases

User Onboarding:

const { owners } = accounts[0];
const primaryOwner = owners[0];

// Validate name matches
const providedName = user.legal_name;
const bankName = primaryOwner.names[0];
const nameMatch = validateName(providedName, bankName);

Address Verification:

const primaryAddress = owners[0].addresses
  .find(addr => addr.primary);

if (primaryAddress) {
  // Use for address validation
  const verified = matchAddress(
    userAddress,
    primaryAddress.data
  );
}

Source: .claude/skills/api/plaid/docs/[filename].md

## Key Endpoints

- `/identity/get` - Retrieve identity data
- `/identity/match` - Match user-provided data
- `/link/token/create` - Initialize with Identity

## Data Availability

Not all institutions provide all fields:
- Names: ~100% available
- Addresses: ~80% available
- Emails: ~60% available
- Phone numbers: ~50% available

## Compliance Considerations

- Document KYC purpose
- Obtain user consent
- Implement data retention limits
- Follow FCRA guidelines (if applicable)
- Respect privacy regulations (GDPR, CCPA)

## Always

- Reference Plaid documentation
- Handle missing fields
- Emphasize compliance requirements
- Include data validation examples
- Consider institution limitations
- Explain permissible purposes
- Show multiple owner handling