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Explanation of Change

Upgrades react-native-plaid-link-sdk from 12.5.3 to 12.8.6, the latest 12.x release. 13.x rewrites the Android module on Expo Modules and is left for a separate upgrade.

This is one of the dependency bumps split out of the React Native 0.88 upgrade (#101739), so they can be tested and shipped on the current React Native 0.86 before the upgrade lands. The new version works on both 0.86 and 0.88. 12.7.0 reads the current Activity through reactApplicationContext.currentActivity, which the upgrade PR otherwise has to patch because React Native 0.88 no longer exposes the bare currentActivity property in Kotlin.

Native SDK changes:

• iOS: LinkKit 6.4.1 → 6.5.4. Since 12.8.6, LinkKit is bundled in the npm package as ios/Frameworks/LinkKit.xcframework instead of the Plaid CocoaPod, because CocoaPods distribution of LinkKit ended at 6.5.1 and CocoaPods trunk becomes read-only on 2026-12-02. The Mobile-Expensify PR removes the Plaid pod from Podfile.lock.
• Android: Plaid Link SDK 5.3.4 → 5.5.6.

The fix-oauth-hybrid-app-ios patch is still needed (12.8.6 has no continueFromRedirectUri) and was ported to 12.8.6. Upstream now drops the link handler in one place, releaseCurrentSession (used by success, exit, dismiss, the new destroy and invalidate), so the patch clears its shared instance there instead of in the exit callback. See patches/react-native-plaid-link-sdk/details.md.

Fixed Issues

$ #101427
PROPOSAL: N/A

MOBILE-EXPENSIFY: https://github.com/Expensify/Mobile-Expensify/pull/14204

Tests

react-native-plaid-link-sdk is only used on native (web uses react-plaid-link), so these steps are for the HybridApp on iOS and Android. Web and mWeb are N/A.

1. Go to Account → Wallet → Add bank account and choose to connect with Plaid.
2. Verify Plaid Link opens. Pick a sandbox bank, sign in with the sandbox credentials and select an account. Verify Plaid Link closes and the bank account flow continues with the selected account.
3. Start the flow again and close Plaid Link with the X button. Verify you are returned to the previous screen and no error is shown.
4. iOS only: start the flow again and pick an OAuth bank (for example "Platypus OAuth Bank" in the Plaid sandbox). Complete the OAuth step in the browser. Verify the app returns to Plaid Link and finishes the connection instead of restarting OAuth.
5. Go to Account → Wallet → Personal cards and connect a card through Plaid. Verify Plaid Link opens and the connection completes.
6. Start the flow with invalid sandbox credentials. Verify Plaid shows its credential error and you can retry or exit.

Offline tests

1. Turn off the network.
2. Go to Account → Wallet → Add bank account.
3. Verify the Plaid step shows the "You appear to be offline." page instead of opening Plaid Link.
4. Turn the network back on and verify Plaid Link opens.

QA Steps

Same as tests

PR Author Checklist

• I linked the correct issue in the ### Fixed Issues section above
• I wrote clear testing steps that cover the changes made in this PR
  • I added steps for local testing in the Tests section
  • I added steps for the expected offline behavior in the Offline steps section
  • I added steps for Staging and/or Production testing in the QA steps section
  • I added steps to cover failure scenarios (i.e. verify an input displays the correct error message if the entered data is not correct)
  • I turned off my network connection and tested it while offline to ensure it matches the expected behavior (i.e. verify the default avatar icon is displayed if app is offline)
  • I tested this PR with a High Traffic account against the staging or production API to ensure there are no regressions (e.g. long loading states that impact usability).
• I included screenshots or videos for tests on all platforms
• I ran the tests on all platforms & verified they passed on:
  • Android: Native
  • Android: mWeb Chrome
  • iOS: Native
  • iOS: mWeb Safari
  • MacOS: Chrome / Safari
• I verified there are no console errors (if there's a console error not related to the PR, report it or open an issue for it to be fixed)
• I verified any copy / text that was added to the app is either coming verbatim from figma or has been approved by marketing (in order to get marketing approval, ask the Bug Zero team member to add the Waiting for copy label to the issue)
• If a new code pattern is added I verified it was agreed to be used by multiple Expensify engineers
• I tested other components that can be impacted by my changes (i.e. if the PR modifies a shared library or component like Avatar, I verified the components using Avatar are working as expected)
• If new assets were added or existing ones were modified, I verified that:
  • The assets are optimized and compressed (for SVG files, run npm run compress-svg)
  • The assets load correctly across all supported platforms.
• If the PR modifies code that runs when editing or sending messages, I tested and verified there is no unexpected behavior for all supported markdown - URLs, single line code, code blocks, quotes, headings, bold, strikethrough, and italic.
• If the PR modifies a generic component, I tested and verified that those changes do not break usages of that component in the rest of the App (i.e. if a shared library or component like Avatar is modified, I verified that Avatar is working as expected in all cases)
• If the PR modifies a component related to any of the existing Storybook stories, I tested and verified all stories for that component are still working as expected.
• If the PR modifies a component or page that can be accessed by a direct deeplink, I verified that the code functions as expected when the deeplink is used - from a logged in and logged out account.
• If the PR modifies the UI (e.g. new buttons, new UI components, changing the padding/spacing/sizing, moving components, etc) or modifies the form input styles:
  • I verified that all the inputs inside a form are aligned with each other.
  • I added Design label and/or tagged @Expensify/design so the design team can review the changes.
• If the PR adds or modifies the UI:
  • I asked an AI agent to review the changes for accessibility issues and addressed its findings.
  • I tested with a screen reader (VoiceOver on macOS) and verified all new/changed elements are reachable with a logical focus order.
  • I verified all new/changed elements have meaningful accessible names and roles.
  • I verified state changes are announced (e.g. checked/unchecked, expanded/collapsed, selected).
• I added unit tests for any new feature or bug fix in this PR to help automatically prevent regressions in this user flow.
• If the main branch was merged into this PR after a review, I tested again and verified the outcome was still expected according to the Test steps.

Screenshots/Videos

Android: Native

Android: mWeb Chrome

iOS: Native

iOS: mWeb Safari

MacOS: Chrome / Safari