No more Tesla Lease autopay via online banking

[Dracaris]

Before anyone jumps down our throat about this, no we do not write checks to pay our Tesla lease. We don't write checks, period. However, we do use online banking to automatically pay our Tesla lease every month. It's worked great, and we didn't have to think about it. If Tesla took electronic payments via our online banking, there would likely still be no issue. However, given Tesla has caught us in a catch-22 (e.g. they don't take bank checks, but they also won't let our bank pay them electronically), we've come up with another possible solution. If you're in the same boat and don't like the idea of giving Tesla and Plaid permission to directly access all your bank accounts, you might find this interesting. If not, just move along, avoiding the urge to drop in an unhelpful meme or snappy retort about checks, leasing, or whatever.

Oh, and no, Tesla won't allow you to give them a credit card or a debit card for lease payments.

So, here's what we did. It may sound a bit involved, but in the end it was pretty simple:

• Created a secondary checking account at our bank, with $0.01 balance. Given we use a credit union, this is free, and took seconds to set up.
• Created a monthly automatic transfer of the lease payment amount from our primary checking account to this secondary account, which will happen a couple days before the lease payment is due.
• Went to the Tesla site and started the process of creating an automatic payment. Tesla tried to get us to use Plaid, which requires the same login creds we use when we login at our bank. (Go ahead and google up info on Plaid, and then think about whether that's a smart thing do do...I'll wait.) However, we discovered that once the Plaid UI pops up and we get a list of the banks they suggest we use, we can cancel that, whereupon the Tesla site suddenly allowed us to manually enter our ACH banking information instead. So, here we entered the information for our new secondary checking account, and we're all set with monthly auto-pay.
• Now, Tesla can automatically yank the lease payment out of this secondary account a couple days after we put the money there, and none of our other cash is at risk for anything stupid that Tesla or Plaid might do.

If you prefer to use Plaid because it's easier - hey, it's your money, do what works for you. Just sharing in case anyone is interested in this alternate solution.

 

[BigNick]

I don't know why your bank can't send an electronic payment to Tesla?
Do they not accept electronic payments from any institution? (If that is the case, it's total BS.)

My bills are always paid via electronic bill payment pushed from my CU to the payee, not the other way around, BUT there are one or two companies that don't accept electronic payments, so they receive an electronically-produced paper check via snail mail that my CU sends out. IIRC, it's AAA and my local water company that are stuck in the 1990s and don't take electronic payments.

That's just good security practice, you don't grant anyone permission to pull stuff out of your bank, that way you only have to worry about your own bank being hacked/compromised. Not the 27 utilities and other companies you send payments to.

 

[Willy’sEV]

Welcome to the 19th Century.

 

[Dracaris]

I don't know why your bank can't send an electronic payment to Tesla?
Do they not accept electronic payments from any institution? (If that is the case, it's total BS.)

My bills are always paid via electronic bill payment pushed from my CU to the payee, not the other way around, BUT there are one or two companies that don't accept electronic payments, so they receive an electronically-produced paper check via snail mail that my CU sends out. IIRC, it's AAA and my local water company that are stuck in the 1990s and don't take electronic payments.

That's just good security practice, you don't grant anyone permission to pull stuff out of your bank, that way you only have to worry about your own bank being hacked/compromised. Not the 27 utilities and other companies you send payments to.

Our bank sends electronic payments to multiple vendors. For some reason, Tesla doesn't allow this. No idea why, because this all happens behind the scenes. Like most banks, our CU uses a third-party to actually make those payments, so it's not just our bank...it's that third party service (could be something like CheckFree). Again, they pay the vast majority of vendors via electronic (ACH) payments. So yeah, Tesla actually forced our online bill payment service to do the cave-man thing of printing out a check and mailing it to Tesla. Hence my catch-22 comments above.

One may also wish to ask oneself Why Tesla's finance team is refusing to accept electronic payments from banks. Seems pretty stodgy, and maybe even dodgy, but I don't have any idea why they'd do that.

Also glad to see that you're clear on the fact that giving your online banking login credentials to an outfit like Plaid is dangerous. Doing so not only lets them pay Tesla, it also gives them full access to everything you've ever done with your bank. Every check, every charge, every payment you've ever made, is easily grovelled once they have your login creds, even if Plaid doesn't actively rip you off by stealing your money via those credentials. They can download your entire transaction history and then figure out how to use it to make additional revenue, potentially by selling this detailed personal information to a third party. Pleased as well that you see giving anyone permission to reach directly into your checking account to pull out a payment exposes you to financial risk - maybe they double bill, maybe they post an erroneous charge, or maybe they get hacked, who knows. Sure, you might eventually get your money back, but until then it's your money that's gone, and you can't use it until or unless you win that fight.

 

[Henry2020]

I am really puzzled that why Tesla has to use Plaid

Before anyone jumps down our throat about this, no we do not write checks to pay our Tesla lease. We don't write checks, period. However, we do use online banking to automatically pay our Tesla lease every month. It's worked great, and we didn't have to think about it. If Tesla took electronic payments via our online banking, there would likely still be no issue. However, given Tesla has caught us in a catch-22 (e.g. they don't take bank checks, but they also won't let our bank pay them electronically), we've come up with another possible solution. If you're in the same boat and don't like the idea of giving Tesla and Plaid permission to directly access all your bank accounts, you might find this interesting. If not, just move along, avoiding the urge to drop in an unhelpful meme or snappy retort about checks, leasing, or whatever.

Oh, and no, Tesla won't allow you to give them a credit card or a debit card for lease payments.

So, here's what we did. It may sound a bit involved, but in the end it was pretty simple:

• Created a secondary checking account at our bank, with $0.01 balance. Given we use a credit union, this is free, and took seconds to set up.
• Created a monthly automatic transfer of the lease payment amount from our primary checking account to this secondary account, which will happen a couple days before the lease payment is due.
• Went to the Tesla site and started the process of creating an automatic payment. Tesla tried to get us to use Plaid, which requires the same login creds we use when we login at our bank. (Go ahead and google up info on Plaid, and then think about whether that's a smart thing do do...I'll wait.) However, we discovered that once the Plaid UI pops up and we get a list of the banks they suggest we use, we can cancel that, whereupon the Tesla site suddenly allowed us to manually enter our ACH banking information instead. So, here we entered the information for our new secondary checking account, and we're all set with monthly auto-pay.
• Now, Tesla can automatically yank the lease payment out of this secondary account a couple days after we put the money there, and none of our other cash is at risk for anything stupid that Tesla or Plaid might do.

If you prefer to use Plaid because it's easier - hey, it's your money, do what works for you. Just sharing in case anyone is interested in this alternate solution.

View attachment 758016

Thanks you for detail explanation of cancelling Plaid then using ACH instead. that is great !!!

I also took a similar approach by opening another account in a different bank, I was planning to give the credential of new account to Tesla/Plaid, I am seriously not a fan of giving credential to anyone, even it is dedicate account, your suggestion saves the day

In the end, I am really puzzled why Plaid has to ask for credential, if it is saving ACH transfer fee, they care their cents more than customer life. it is morally wrong,

I am even more puzzled why Tesla picked up Plaid! I will be more than happy to pay extra processing fee if Elon really needs the extra bucks, it really hurt my trust to Tesla....

One can talk about encryption/ o-auth, but it is not a bullet-proof method, asking for end-user credential is against security and privacy principal , period

 

[baw]

This is crazy.
1) Should be able to use an old fashioned check or bank transfer or whatever. Forcing people to use Plaid is probably not even legal.
2) Appreciate the OP suggestion and will use it. Thank you. But, backdoor to ACH? That's not cool. Tesla probably getting a kickback. Which is fine, but they need to present all the options clearly. Absurd for a company this size.
3) No way to talk to anyone on the phone? I cant find a number anyhwere on their website or in my account dashboard. Seriously?

 

[valaeyron]

One can talk about encryption/ o-auth, but it is not a bullet-proof method, asking for end-user credential is against security and privacy principal , period

It’s more secure than a check. Once someone has a check they can simply order more with the same details.

Asking you to use your credentials to authenticate DIRECTLY to your bank to acquire an oAuth token that can be managed (and revoked) without revealing your actual credentials to Tesla IS more secure.

2) Appreciate the OP suggestion and will use it. Thank you. But, backdoor to ACH? That's not cool. Tesla probably getting a kickback. Which is fine, but they need to present all the options clearly. Absurd for a company this size.

I think Plaid allows you to confirm if account is stilL active, still belongs to the same person, and (I think) may be able to confirm if the amount is actually available before requesting it. Every mistake that occurs with basic checks, and even ACH, adds some cost to them.

 

[Dracaris]

Just made our first monthly lease payment using the approach I suggested at the top of this thread. It worked beautifully, and hopefully will continue to do so for the duration of our lease.

 

[Dracaris]

This is crazy.
1) Should be able to use an old fashioned check or bank transfer or whatever. Forcing people to use Plaid is probably not even legal.
2) Appreciate the OP suggestion and will use it. Thank you. But, backdoor to ACH? That's not cool. Tesla probably getting a kickback. Which is fine, but they need to present all the options clearly. Absurd for a company this size.
3) No way to talk to anyone on the phone? I cant find a number anyhwere on their website or in my account dashboard. Seriously?

Would not surprise me one single bit if Tesla was getting a kickback of some kind (a finder's fee, maybe?) from Plaid.

 

[valaeyron]

Would not surprise me one single bit if Tesla was getting a kickback of some kind (a finder's fee, maybe?) from Plaid.

They have lower losses due to insufficient funds (NSF) and other issues. It’s a good ROI for them.

 

[stopcrazypp]

Would not surprise me one single bit if Tesla was getting a kickback of some kind (a finder's fee, maybe?) from Plaid.

I highly doubt they are getting any kickbacks. As another point out, the major difference with Plaid is given it has full access to your online banking account, it can immediately determine if you have funds in your account, and it avoids a failed transfer due to you not having enough funds. In terms of features, it's far superior to old fashioned ACH.

The major problem is the security in how it's implemented (user needing to trust Plaid with their full bank credentials).

 

[valaeyron]

The major problem is the security in how it's implemented (user needing to trust Plaid with their full bank credentials).

I believe Plaid uses oAuth. It may SEEM like you are entering you credentials to give them to Plaid. You’re actually sending them to your bank which gives Plaid a special “ticket” that links back to you…but is NOT your login.

 

[stopcrazypp]

I believe Plaid uses oAuth. It may SEEM like you are entering you credentials to give them to Plaid. You’re actually sending them to your bank which gives Plaid a special “ticket” that links back to you…but is NOT your login.

It's not using OAuth at all. That's how it's able to work with every single bank system (without the banks having to implement a special login API). It directly takes your bank credentials.

If it was using OAuth, it would redirect to the bank website to enter your credentials, ask for what specific permissions to grant, and go back to the Plaid website. It does none of that, rather it is the Plaid website that takes your credentials directly (at least it does with my bank, YMMV depending on which bank).

I pointed this out a while back.
SR/SR+ (Model 3 RWD) Waiting Room

 

[valaeyron]

It's not using OAuth at all. That's how it's able to work with every single bank system (without the banks having to implement a special login API). It directly takes your bank credentials.

If it was using OAuth, it would redirect to the bank website to enter your credentials, ask for what specific permissions to grant, and go back to the Plaid website. It does none of that, rather it is the Plaid website that takes your credentials directly (at least it does with my bank, YMMV depending on which bank).

I pointed this out a while back.
SR/SR+ (Model 3 RWD) Waiting Room

Sure, okay…so from the Plaid website: Some institutions use an OAuth authentication flow, in which Plaid Link redirects the end user to their bank's website or mobile app to authenticate.

Seems like they configure oAuth if the bank supports it. Since it’s not using oAuth with YOUR bank…you should complain to YOUR BANK and not Tesla or Plaid. If this matters so much to you, you need to choose a different bank, a different car… or you can assess the risk and choose to live with it.

At least you have choices.

 

[SlimJim]

Huh?
All my car payments go out the same way. Chase tesla bmw… i dont know.
But i pay bills with cc to earn reward. Why pay bills with checking account?

 

[stopcrazypp]

Sure, okay…so from the Plaid website: Some institutions use an OAuth authentication flow, in which Plaid Link redirects the end user to their bank's website or mobile app to authenticate.

Seems like they configure oAuth if the bank supports it. Since it’s not using oAuth with YOUR bank…you should complain to YOUR BANK and not Tesla or Plaid. If this matters so much to you, you need to choose a different bank, a different car… or you can assess the risk and choose to live with it.

At least you have choices.

I used Citibank, the third largest bank in the US. If it doesn't even support all the top ten banks, then I hardly think it's that relevant that it works on some with OAuth. I don't believe that line was there other back then either, as I looked at the terms back then and it mentioned nothing about OAuth. It could have been people that complained about the poor security that forced them to add it.

As for complaining to the bank, I didn't want to use Plaid in the first place, why is it my bank's fault that Tesla decided to force it (at the time I don't believe there was an option to bypass and use ACH)? Should I complain to my bank every time one of the services I use decides to switch to some new payment provider that asks for access to the online banking, when they can use ACH like everyone else?

 

[valaeyron]

I used Citibank, the third largest bank in the US. If it doesn't even support all the top ten banks, then I hardly think it's that relevant that it works on some with OAuth. I don't believe that line was there other back then either, as I looked at the terms back then and it mentioned nothing about OAuth. It could have been people that complained about the poor security that forced them to add it.

Funny. So party A can never use something new that party B doesn’t?? We’ll never have anything new then.

I also have Citi. They’re not exactly cutting edge on that kind of stuff. Plaid had had oAuth for a long time, they pitched it to my work years ago.

As for complaining to the bank, I didn't want to use Plaid in the first place, why is it my bank's fault that Tesla decided to force it (at the time I don't believe there was an option to bypass and use ACH)? Should I complain to my bank every time one of the services I use decides to switch to some new payment provider that asks for access to the online banking, when they can use ACH like everyone else?

Again, you don’t have to drive a Tesla. They’re welcome to decide they take payments. You don’t have to be a customer. And yes, people do complain to their bank about this kind of stuff and yes, they do consider it.

Everyone accepts cash. Why are you not upset Tesla does not want to be paid in pennies??

 

[TXDawg]

If anyone has any reservations about using Plaid like I did, just setup a separate account at a different bank. Like many of you, I applied for several loans and one of those required a membership via opening a Savings account( & checking). Problem solved, end of discussion. I simply wired the full payment in + $5 USD and then used Plaid. There’s no history for them to data mine, and I simply changed the password after the money was taken. It’s really not that big of a deal.

 

[Plood]

Anyone who is afraid of this is naive in the assumption that they had any privacy in the first place. This is about emotional and psychological results, not actual privacy or security.

Did you really think you would be the first victim of the Plaid conspiracy to do something other to earn profit?

 

[valaeyron]

Anyone who is afraid of this is naive in the assumption that they had any privacy in the first place. This is about emotional and psychological results, not actual privacy or security.

Did you really think you would be the first victim of the Plaid conspiracy to do something other to earn profit?

Exactly. Setting up a bank account generally requires you pass the Know Your Customer (KYC) rules and I don't think any financial institution can setup an account that *might* have to report a 1099 to the gov't without getting your SSN. So... anyone's under any illusion that their bank isn't profiting off that information already... hate to break it to ya. Might not be Plaid, but it's your bank for sure at least...and everyone they do business with, etc, etc... They know who you are and someone connected your history for the purposes of selling you more stuff. That "free" bank account isn't "free"...