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Big Banks Lock Horns with Personal-Finance Web Portals

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Re: Big Banks Lock Horns with Personal-Finance Web Portals

#61

Post by KirinDave »

davidu wrote: post #3

If the banks cared they would provide either token-based API like oAuth or at the very least, a read-only password for users to give these sites that aren't fully credentialed. Customers will always want to extract their data.

The only way that is going to happen is if it is legally required to happen or if banks are financially incentivized to make it happen.

It's absolutely true that offering data migration services decreases bank account stickiness, and that's something everyone is terrified of doing in the finance industry. Customer acquisition costs are so high, I doubt you'd believe me if I explained them to you.

Re: Big Banks Lock Horns with Personal-Finance Web Portals

#62

Post by yvesmh »

balls187 wrote: post #41
guelo wrote: post #31

They should be required to provide a secure token-based API. The fact that Mint has to store your bank password in plain text is asking for trouble.

Why does Mint have to store your bank password in plain text?

Because there's no API, so they have to scrape your transactions off the bank's sites, and they have to log-in using your credentials for that.

Re: Big Banks Lock Horns with Personal-Finance Web Portals

#63

Post by Spooky23 »

JoshTriplett wrote: post #16
Spooky23 wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why not? I've ditched banks a few times. Checking is a commodity product these days... it's not like a banking relationship matters anymore. In olden times, it might have been a pain. Now most automatic payments hit a credit card, so you aggregate the account changes at that level. Last time I flipped to get a 1/4 point off my mortgage. I think I had to redirect my utility account and change a few online payment port…

> Why not? I've ditched banks a few times. Checking is a commodity product these days... it's not like a banking relationship matters anymore. Depends on what position you're in, and how you've previously organized your finances. If you still write checks, you have to leave the old account open with enough funds and wait for all of those to clear. If you have things pointing at your bank debit/credit card, you need t…

Good point. I have a "no debit card" policy and don't do automatic payments, with 4 exceptions (mortgage, auto insurance, house insurance, electric/gas company)

The first three are paid from a dedicated account. The electric company pays me to do pay automatically, so I do. :)

Re: Big Banks Lock Horns with Personal-Finance Web Portals

#64

Post by logn »

1024core wrote: post #38

The banks care for their customers? Really?? Are these the same banks that used to charge "overdraft" fees of $35+ for a $1.50 overdraft? Where was the concern for customers then??

These are different departments. The people concerned about Mint come from Risk, Fraud, Security, and IT. They don't decide overdraft fees.

Re: Big Banks Lock Horns with Personal-Finance Web Portals

#65

Post by jgalt212 »

shawkinaw wrote: post #52

I used Mint for a long time, but eventually decided I didn't like them having all my bank login information, including security questions. So I switched to a setup where I download OFX data directly from my banks using a Python script [1], and use Ledger [2] to track spending, balances, etc. A big bonus of this approach is that I have complete control over the data, so if an import get screwed up somehow I can fix it…

> I didn't like them having all my bank login information, including security questions

I that's the sort of concerns that did in the start-up greplin. They would have access to all your password protected data for any service under the sun.

Re: Big Banks Lock Horns with Personal-Finance Web Portals

#66

Post by morgante »

cdnsteve wrote: post #45

I agree with the banks in part. Giving your online account credentials to access your banking information is complete madness. It's a giant security risk that neither company would likely cover if someone got a hold of your login details. This is the reason I purposely never signed up for Mint. On the second half of the argument. Banks need address the fact that users needs are changing and they want access to their…

> It's a giant security risk that neither company would likely cover if someone got a hold of your login details.

Sure, but it shouldn't be the bank's decision to keep me from accessing my own customer data because it's insecure.

If they actually wanted to fix this, it would be entirely possible to provide a read-only API.

Re: Big Banks Lock Horns with Personal-Finance Web Portals

#67

Post by morgante »

jacquesm wrote: post #7
xirdstl wrote: post #4

This seems like it would backfire. I suspect many people are more loyal to mint.com than to their banks.

Switching banks isn't easy, unfortunately. Note how banks have very successfully managed to create systems that do not have bank account number portability built in, they even engineered them in such a way that any future desire to implement such portability will meet with very substantial technical roadblocks.

> do not have bank account number portability built in

What do you mean? I don't see how one would even conceivably bring an account number from bank to bank, let alone why it would be desirable.

In my experience, it's actually quite easy to switch banks. No more than 30 minutes tops (open account, change credit card autopay).

Re: Big Banks Lock Horns with Personal-Finance Web Portals

#68

Post by morgante »

dwaltrip wrote: post #24

I'm leaving SF to travel around the US for 6-12 months, which means I need to switch off the local credit union that I'm currently using. I may as well choose something that will work for the indefinite future, including whereever I land next (it will be in the US). Any recommendations? I'd prefer an organization that was less culpable for the financial crisis.

If you're looking for a checking account, I highly recommend Charles Schwab. They've always had excellent customer service, a pretty modern tech presence, and best of all you can use any ATM anywhere in the world without worrying about fees—they'll reimburse you for any fees charged.

Re: Big Banks Lock Horns with Personal-Finance Web Portals

#69

Post by pspeter3 »

shawkinaw wrote: post #52

I used Mint for a long time, but eventually decided I didn't like them having all my bank login information, including security questions. So I switched to a setup where I download OFX data directly from my banks using a Python script [1], and use Ledger [2] to track spending, balances, etc. A big bonus of this approach is that I have complete control over the data, so if an import get screwed up somehow I can fix it…

Do you pay for the OFX access?

Re: Big Banks Lock Horns with Personal-Finance Web Portals

#70

Post by ryanhuff »

snuxoll wrote: post #11
Someone1234 wrote: post #2

This is the major difference between the US and EU. In the EU this isn't the "bank's customer data" this is the "customer's data." The customer actually has a legal right to see what data is held about them by the bank, and the bank has a legal obligation to make sure that data is accurate and up to date.

The dumb part is banks are more than willing to support Quicken's Express Web Connect, which literally stores your username/password on Intuit's servers, logs into your online banking portal and downloads the .qfx files you would get if you did it by hand. This is the same company that owns Mint, and it's literally doing the same thing! Oh well, until banks decide to stop allowing users to manually save .qfx files th…

Intuit owns Mint. Not sure how the banks are going to know the difference between Mint users and Express Web Connect users. Maybe they shut them all down?
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