You can fund your Flourish Cash account from any of your existing checking or savings accounts, and you can start with one account and add as many accounts as you’d like. You’ll have the opportunity to fund your account during the account setup process. Once your account is set up, simply navigate to the “External Accounts” tab at the top of the screen to view your linked bank accounts and to add more linked bank accounts.
There are two ways to link a bank account to the system: “instant” linking and “manual” linking. Please note that Flourish SmartBalance is only available for checking accounts that were instantly linked to Flourish Cash (accounts that you linked by entering your username and password with that bank).
To connect a bank account to your Flourish account, follow the steps below.
If you are connecting a bank account for the very first time, you will be taken directly to step 6 during the set-up process.
1. Log in to your Flourish Cash account by navigating to flourish.com on your internet browser.
- *You may need to complete a multi-factor authentication prompt before accessing your account by entering a 5 or 6 digit PIN. When you enter the PIN, you can also click the checkbox to “Remember this device” if you do not wish to enter a pin when you log in using this device for the next few weeks.
2. Click "Manage" next to the Flourish Cash account you would like to access.
3. Near the top of the page, click “External Accounts.”
4. Next, click on “Add Account.” You may have to complete a multi-factor authentication prompt (entering a 5 or 6 digit PIN) before continuing.
5. If you have additional bank accounts that are available for linking from a previous connection attempt, you will be able to link any of these accounts on the following page by simply clicking the “toggle” button underneath the phrase “Connect account.” If you would like to connect a new bank account, click the “+ Link new bank account” button towards the top of the screen to proceed to the following step.
6. If you are a new user, or if you do not have any existing bank accounts to link (or if you clicked “+ Link new bank account” in step 5), you will be guided through the process of connecting a new bank account to Flourish using a secure service called Plaid.* Click “Get Started” to begin the process.
7. The next screen will state “Select your bank.” You now have two options to link your bank account to Flourish Cash:
Option 1: Search for your bank by name, or choose from one of the popular institutions listed, to “instantly” link your bank account to Flourish Cash. Instant linking is the quickest way to link your bank account to your Flourish Cash account, as the verification process is usually completed in one minute or less, and you can connect multiple bank accounts at the same time. Instantly linking your bank account is required in order to use SmartBalance.
- Search for your bank by name in the search bar at the top of the screen, or choose from one of the popular institutions listed.
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Follow the steps on the screen to enter your bank username and bank password. If your bank account requires multi-factor authentication, you may need to answer a question or enter a PIN that you’ll receive directly from your bank (usually via email, text, or a phone call) before you’ll be able to proceed.
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Connect the desired account(s) by clicking on the “toggle” button next to each account name. The “toggle” button will then turn green, and you will be able to enter a one-time deposit of any amount. If you are connecting a checking account, you will also see the option to set a “SmartBalance” target balance.
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Once you’ve entered an initial deposit or set a SmartBalance target, click “Continue” and then confirm the initial transfer on the following screen.
Option 2. If your banking institution doesn’t appear in the search bar or you don’t wish to instantly link your bank account, you can “manually” link your bank account to Flourish Cash by typing “#” in the search bar and then clicking “Link with account numbers.”
- Follow the instructions on the screen to confirm your name, the type of bank account you are trying to connect, and the account and routing number, and then click “Continue” to return to the External Accounts page. You can learn where to find your bank account number and bank routing number here.
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Before you can transfer funds using this new account, you’ll need to verify the values of two small verification “micro-deposits.” These deposits should appear in the bank account you are connecting to Flourish by the end of the very next business day (and sometimes as quickly as a few hours).
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Once you see the verification micro-deposits, report the deposit amounts on the “External Accounts” page. On that page, you should see the relevant bank account highlighted with a red flag stating “This account needs to be verified.” Click on the “Verify” button under the relevant account.
- Follow the instructions on the screen to enter the values of the two micro-deposit amounts to finish verifying your account. The two micro-deposits can be entered in any order. Please note that you have three attempts to enter the correct micro-deposit amounts.
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Once the bank account has been successfully verified, you can navigate to the “Transfers” tab to place a transfer using this new account.
- You can now navigate to the “Transfers” tab to place a transfer using this new account.
Please note that the micro-deposits expire after 10 business days. If your micro-deposits have expired, you’ll need to remove your bank account and begin the account linking process again, which you can do through the External Accounts page.
* Plaid is a service that connects to over 11,000 financial institutions and is used by tens of millions of people across North America. Plaid provides connectivity for many common online financial products, such as Venmo and American Express, and was recently acquired by Visa.