How-to

How to give Codex CLI access to your bank account

4 min read
To give Codex CLI access to your bank account, sign up at bankbridge.money ($5/mo per bank), link your bank in about 30 seconds through the bank-connection flow, then add the `[mcp_servers.bankbridge]` block to `~/.codex/config.toml` (with `experimental_use_rmcp_client = true` at the top level). BankBridge ships 12 read-only MCP tools (list_accounts, list_transactions, get_recurring_charges, get_monthly_cashflow, list_holdings, and 7 more) that Codex CLI calls live, with zero financial data cached.

1. Sign up at bankbridge.money

Go to bankbridge.money/login. Enter your email, click the magic link we send, and you're in. No password to remember. Takes about 20 seconds.

2. Subscribe and link your bank

Pricing is $5/month per connected bank. The dashboard prompts you for a card before letting you link a bank. Checkout is Stripe; cancel anytime from the dashboard.

Then click Connect a bank. A secure window opens, hosted by our upstream bank-aggregator, where you search for your bank (Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Capital One, Fidelity, Schwab, your local credit union, and thousands more), enter the credentials you use on the bank's website, and approve read-only access. Most banks take about 30 seconds; banks with MFA take a minute.

3. Install BankBridge in Codex CLI

From your dashboard, copy your bbk_ API key. Then add the `[mcp_servers.bankbridge]` block to `~/.codex/config.toml` (with `experimental_use_rmcp_client = true` at the top level).

The full Codex CLI setup doc auto-fills your real key when you're signed in, so you can copy the snippet with the key already baked in.

Restart Codex CLI so it picks up the new config. Then open a new session.

4. Try it

Open a fresh Codex CLIsession and ask one of these. Each one hits a different tool, so it's a quick way to sanity-check the install:

  • “List my bank accounts and current balances.”
  • “How much did I spend on food this month?”
  • “What subscriptions am I paying for?”
  • “Any unusual charges this week?”

The first one calls list_accounts and is the fastest end-to-end check. If your balances come back, the other 11 tools will work too.

Is this safe?

  • Read-only by design. No tool can move money, send a payment, or change an account. The MCP surface is 12 read tools.
  • Your bank password never touches us.The link flow runs inside the bank-aggregator's UI; we receive an encrypted access token, not credentials.
  • Zero financial data cached. Every Codex CLI query live-fetches from your bank and returns. We store your account, your API key hash, and the encrypted token. That's it.
  • Revoke in one click. Disconnect the bank from the dashboard, or rotate your API key from settings. Old keys stop working immediately.

Questions? Email hello@greatwork.company. Built by Great Work.

FAQ

Is this safe?

Yes. BankBridge is read-only by design: there's no tool that can move money or change an account. Your bank password never touches us; the link flow runs in the upstream bank-aggregator's own UI, and we store only an encrypted access token (AES-256-GCM). Zero financial data is cached on our servers, so every Codex CLI query live-fetches from your bank and returns.

What can Codex CLI actually do once it's connected?

Anything the 12 tools can answer in plain English. List your accounts and balances. Total your spending by category, merchant, or month. Find recurring subscriptions. Track investment holdings and dividends. Pull a monthly cashflow with income vs. expenses. Search transactions by merchant. Codex CLI picks the right tool for each question; you just ask.

What does it cost?

$5/month per connected bank. One bank is $5. Three banks is $15. Cancel anytime from the dashboard and the bank connection ends at the end of the current billing period. There's no free tier; the upstream bank-aggregator and live-fetch infrastructure aren't free either.