There are a few reasons that you may see out of date balance data:
\n/accounts/get, /transactions/sync, and /identity/get) return the balances object as cached data from Plaid's most recent contact with the institution, not as a live real-time call. How fresh that cached balance is depends on the Item's subscription products (see the next point) and the institution's update cadence. If you need real-time balance, see the real-time endpoint guidance at the bottom of this article./link/token/create in your application.item_id.To diagnose whether stale balance is due to an outdated cache or a broken Item, call /item/get and inspect two fields:
item.status.transactions.last_successful_update — the timestamp of Plaid's most recent successful data pull from the institution for the Transactions product. Cached balance returned by /accounts/get, /transactions/sync, etc. is no fresher than this timestamp. Substitute transactions for liabilities or investments if those are the relevant subscription products on the Item.item.error — null for a healthy Item, or populated with an error object (e.g., ITEM_LOGIN_REQUIRED, PENDING_DISCONNECT) if the Item is in an error state and not currently updating. An Item in an error state will not refresh balance until the underlying issue is resolved (typically via Link's update mode).If you need the most current balance regardless of the cached state, use a real-time balance endpoint — /signal/evaluate (when called with a ruleset that includes a balance rule) for ACH transaction risk evaluation, or /accounts/balance/get for other real-time balance needs. See How can I obtain account balances using Plaid's API? for guidance on choosing the right endpoint, and Why do /transactions/sync or /transactions/get and /accounts/balance/get return different balances for an Item? for why cached and real-time balances can differ.