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Root – Programmable bank account for software developers

root.co.za

21–30 of 427 posts

Re: Root – Programmable bank account for software developers

#21
post #11

What problem does this attempt to solve? Their slack example doesn't seem particularly pressing.

What about the Uber example? That's seem pretty cool.

But I think the problem it's attempting to solve is that without Root a bank must implement any kind of features that you may want, Root you allows you to implement any features you want.

Although I can't decide whether this is an amazing thing, or a terrible terrible thing.

Re: Root – Programmable bank account for software developers

#22
post #9

I'd like to have something like this for Germany. I am willing to pay 10€/month for a simple API access to my bank account. I need neither hosted code nor push. Just give me remote access for my scripts. Probably I'm asking for the impossible because of the heavy regulation in Germany but just wanted to put it out there.

There is https://www.figo.io/en/figo-for-every-service/ and https://www.solarisbank.de/

Re: Root – Programmable bank account for software developers

#23
post #9

I'd like to have something like this for Germany. I am willing to pay 10€/month for a simple API access to my bank account. I need neither hosted code nor push. Just give me remote access for my scripts. Probably I'm asking for the impossible because of the heavy regulation in Germany but just wanted to put it out there.

N26 has got a quite decent REST API if you are willing to use your dev tools for a bit :) Edit: Most banks also seem to support FinTS [0], but it seems a bit of a PITA. Edit 2: figo might be worth a try as well, though I don't know their pricing. Edit 3: bunq is quite nice as well. I implemented a few basic calls in node when they launched the API. Not the easiest API to work with, but acceptable. [0]: https://www.hb…

Every time I see anything about N26, I am quite disappointed that it isn't available in the US.

Re: Root – Programmable bank account for software developers

#24
post #9

I'd like to have something like this for Germany. I am willing to pay 10€/month for a simple API access to my bank account. I need neither hosted code nor push. Just give me remote access for my scripts. Probably I'm asking for the impossible because of the heavy regulation in Germany but just wanted to put it out there.

Have you thought about using a headless browser or web scraping?

A friend of mine did this but after two times web access being disabled for his account because "suspicious activity" he stopped. Second time he actually tried very hard to simulate a human with delays, user-agent, browser capabilities and so on but didn't help.

Re: Root – Programmable bank account for software developers

#25

This will be interesting to watch. I'm hoping they have sandbox accounts!

Hey @baconomatic, founder here - we do have a sandbox built in so that you can test your scripts/programs first before running letting it touch your real money :)

Re: Root – Programmable bank account for software developers

#26
post #11

What problem does this attempt to solve? Their slack example doesn't seem particularly pressing.

It doesn't technically solve a problem I have yet, but if more banks did it, it could.

I like to immediately take 10% of my pay check off the top for my savings account and investments. As a contractor, I also needed to take money out on my own for taxes. My hours are variable and I was getting paper checks.

Being able to just deposit my check and have a script run that automatically takes care of all of that would be great.

Re: Root – Programmable bank account for software developers

#27

In the EU this is soon going to be solved by the PSD2 system. Coming in November 2018 or later, depending on how soon the regulations are finalized. It's a mandatory-to-implement protocol, which will allow consumers to give 1st and 3rd parties API access to their bank accounts.

What protections are in place so that third party doesn't have a glitch and take all a person's money?

Re: Root – Programmable bank account for software developers

#28

I wish brokerages/banks had APIs, even just for reading. I've tried just reading my Fidelity transactions with a script and they seem to have blocked my server.

You might check into the https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Financial_Exchange format. Software like Quicken is able to download transactions from several banks and brokerages using it. (I don't know what's involved in getting access to its endpoints, though.)

Re: Root – Programmable bank account for software developers

#29
post #11

What problem does this attempt to solve? Their slack example doesn't seem particularly pressing.

What about the Uber example? That's seem pretty cool. But I think the problem it's attempting to solve is that without Root a bank must implement any kind of features that you may want, Root you allows you to implement any features you want. Although I can't decide whether this is an amazing thing, or a terrible terrible thing.

> What about the Uber example? That's seem pretty cool.

edit: I didn't see the Uber example, so I was working off an incorrect premise. It actually makes sense.

How would that work in real life? Uber doesn't charge you before your ride is complete, and at that point your payment would bounce, and now you're in trouble.

Ditto for fast-food diet; nobody's going to be happy when you walk up to the counter at 16 Handles with your big bucket of ice cream and your card doesn't go through.

I suppose the idea is to keep all of this in mind, but it still seems odd.

But you're right - someone will come up with an interesting use case for it. (My first idea was a card for my kid, so they can only make $10 worth of in-game purchases a month.)

Re: Root – Programmable bank account for software developers

#30
post #11

What problem does this attempt to solve? Their slack example doesn't seem particularly pressing.

I can see the use being other for power users who want to have triggers for their own stuff "warn me if the cellphone bill is over the regular price so I check the overcharges". Myself if I go under my limit I have before the end of the day to correct the situation (I don't like to leave much money on the current account), so the first thing I would do is a simple script that warns me when that happens to avoid bank fees or even automatically correct if no correction had been done at 23h30.

Or for companies who would like a processing pipeline that treat customer's orders once their wire payment arrive (send a confirmation email, activate the product, ...).

Or of course like their snippet shows, for hip companies who want to post activities events on their social powered feed, because "bob bought bagels" is the information you need live at the office !

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