I cannot send money to someone via Routing and account number. I don’t get the plaid thing. They clearly won’t give me their account password so i can send them money?!
I believe this is why apps like Cashapp and Zelle exist in the U.S
Plaid is for sending money to your own accounts at other banks. Generally speaking, it’s not a “thing” in the US to ask for someone’s bank details to send them money unless you’re a business. You’d either use a third party payment app like Venmo or CashApp, a fast payment service like Zelle or Popmoney if your bank supports it (Monzo doesn’t support either yet) or send them a paper check if they don’t want to use a payment app. Less often, some banks allow you to send someone a payment link where they can provide their bank details directly to your bank.
Jumping in to say everything @jamar0303 said is right.
Generally it’s not common to get someone’s account details to send money to them (things would be so much easier if that was the case)
You’ll need to use another service like Zelle, Cash App, Venmo, Apple Cash, PayPal, Google Pay (or is it Google Wallet (?)), Facebook Pay… you get the picture.
And Zelle does work with our accounts, you’ll just need to download the Zelle app separately to use it.