FotM – Impact-Driven Transaction Intelligence
Client: FotM
Industry: FinTech, Social Impact, Data Intelligence
Platform: Web Platform & Backend System
Services Provided: Backend Development, Plaid API Integration, Data Matching & Analytics, Dashboard Development, Secure Data Handling, UI/UX Design.
About the Client
FotM’s vision is simple yet powerful — help people see the real-world impact of their purchases. By connecting users’ bank and card accounts, the platform can identify spending patterns and highlight how much of it supports businesses from underrepresented or identity-based groups, such as Black-owned, Women-owned, or Ally-owned companies.
They wanted to inspire conscious consumerism through data transparency and impact storytelling.
The Challenge
FotM needed to build a secure, scalable, and intelligent platform capable of:
- Seamlessly connecting to user bank and card accounts.
- Classifying and tagging merchants by identity group.
- Matching transactions to merchants with high accuracy.
- Aggregating and attributing spending insights at both individual and community levels.
- Presenting the data in an engaging, easy-to-use dashboard for both members and the public.
The challenge was combining financial technology, fuzzy data matching, and impact-driven analytics into one unified system.
Our Solution
ProtonBits partnered with FotM to design and develop a Plaid-powered backend system and intuitive dashboards that transformed their vision into a functional product.
Our approach included:
1. Plaid Integration
- Secure account linking via Plaid Link.
- Token exchange and encrypted storage tied to user profiles.
- Optional webhook listener for real-time transaction updates.
2. Member Account Mapping
- Mapping between Plaid accounts, FotM profiles, and voluntary demographic data.
- Ensuring privacy and security for all sensitive data.
3. Merchant Identity Directory
- Built a robust merchant directory tagged with identity groups.
- Enabled manual updates, partner submissions, and future API integrations.
4. Transaction Matching Engine
- Developed normalization and fuzzy matching algorithms to match merchants with high accuracy.
- Stored matched data with merchant identity and user details.
5. Impact Attribution Logic
- Calculated spending totals by identity group for each member.
- Enabled demographic-based insights and community-level impact tracking.
6.Dashboards & Analytics
- Designed internal dashboards for members and administrators.
- Built a public “Impact Ticker” to showcase real-time community contributions
Key Deliverables
- Fully functional Plaid-powered account linking.
- Merchant identity directory with easy update capabilities.
- Fuzzy matching engine for accurate transaction classification.
- Impact attribution logic tied to user profiles.
- Member & admin dashboards with public-facing impact ticker.
Impact & Results
- The new system enabled FotM to:
- Provide real-time visibility into user and community spending impact.
- Empower users to make informed purchasing decisions that support their values.
- Highlight economic contributions to underrepresented communities.
- Build a foundation for future features, partnerships, and scaling.
“ProtonBits transformed our idea into a secure, intelligent, and impactful platform. They not only delivered on the technical requirements but understood our mission and brought it to life.” – FotM Team
Technologies Used
Plaid API - Secure financial data integration.
Node.js / Python- Backend services and data processing.
PostgreSQL - Data storage and management.
React.js - Dashboard and UI.
Fuzzy Matching Algorithms- Merchant name and ZIP code matching.