There are a number of personal finance planning tools available to help families manage their budget and reduce debt by pulling together balance and activity information from different financial accounts into a single view on an app or a web site.

Personal finance software such as Yodlee® and account aggregation programs like Mint® use a form of technology called data scraping to log in to a user’s account using their personal security credentials to extract information from account web pages.

Many people, however, are rightfully concerned that if an account aggregation program is hacked it leads to one point of access where all their information is compromised instead of just that of one bank.

To help account owners safely share their data, Virginia529 now offers a third-party access account that allows Virginia529 account owners to create an aggregator read-only account prior to enabling multi-factor authentication.

Multi-factor authentication, also known as two-step verification, was implemented as an extra security option in March by Virginia529 for account owners. This enhancement requires two ways of proving your identity for each login and enhances protection of your Virginia529 account(s). Related: New Security Updates to Safeguard your Account

Using Virginia529’s third-party account access platform will allow your chosen preferred personal finance software to access select Virginia529 account information without having to disclose your personal primary Virginia529 account login information.

Additionally, the third-party account access platform will only give access to basic account and investment details without displaying personal and sensitive information.  

How to link a Virginia529 account to your personal finance software

• Sign in to your online account at Virginia529.com
• Click the “Manage My Accounts” dropdown menu link
• Select the menu item “Link Personal Finance Software”
• Create a unique Login ID, password, and expiration date for each service receiving access to your account information
• Direct your personal finance software to enter the newly created Login ID and password at this link.

Upon completion of these steps, your digital application, planning tool or financial institution will receive read-only access to your Virginia529 account summary information. This will allow you to keep track of your Virginia529 investments while protecting your account security.

PLEASE NOTE: At this time Virginia529 accounts cannot be linked to any Quicken financial tools.  

Link Your Personal Finance Software to Your Virginia529 Account Protect Your Virginia529 Account with Multi-factor Authentication