18
Grade F

Monarch Privacy Policy

Collaborative Budgeting Platform | Last reviewed: January 2026

Overview

Monarch's collaborative features create unique privacy concerns—advisor sharing exposes your complete financial data to third parties, and household sharing means partners see all linked accounts. As a VC-backed startup, there's pressure to grow and eventually monetize user data. The Plaid requirement means bank credentials are shared with this aggregator.

Data Collection Summary

Data Type Collected Shared Sold
Bank credentials Yes Plaid No
Complete transaction history Yes Advisors/Partners No
Investment accounts Yes Partners No
Net worth and assets Yes Household/Advisors No
Household member data Yes Shared Access No
Usage analytics Yes Yes Unclear

Key Privacy Findings

Advisor Data Sharing

Monarch's advisor features allow financial advisors to view your complete financial picture. This third-party access exposes sensitive data to parties with their own data practices.

Household Data Exposure

Collaborative features mean household members see all linked accounts. Relationship changes can create privacy complications with shared financial access.

VC-Backed Startup Pressures

As a venture-funded company, Monarch faces pressure to grow and find revenue. Future business model changes could expand how your data is monetized.

Plaid Credential Sharing

Bank syncing requires sharing credentials with Plaid. There's no option to use Monarch meaningfully without this aggregator relationship.

Investment Data Collection

Monarch's investment tracking collects detailed portfolio data including holdings, performance, and asset allocation—a comprehensive wealth profile.

Positive Aspects

No Current Advertising

Subscription model means no ads or financial product recommendations at present, though future monetization remains possible.

Data Export Available

Users can export their transaction and budget data for portability if they decide to leave the platform.