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That sounds a lot more complicated than just downloading bank statements and uploading them to YNAB and adds a lot more points of failure
by bathtub365 7y ago
That sounds a lot more complicated than just downloading bank statements and uploading them to YNAB and adds a lot more points of failure
- ralmeida 7y agoIt does, but it also keeps YNAB more in sync with your bank account, since transactions will typically take a couple days to show up in the statement.
- bathtub365 7y agoSure, but a database? Isn’t that part of what YNAB provides?
- buzzy_hacker 7y agoYeah it could probably do without it, but initially made this for a hackathon so it’s by no means perfect
- aphit 7y agoOne of the key features of YNAB is using it to actually inform you before you make purchases. By having it near instant (manual, or by this method), your decisions are fully informed when you make them.
- ralmeida 7y agoYes, but a DB of "transaction notifications" your bank sent you could still be useful so you can reconcile/debug if needed, much like the actual bank statement. I do agree that the DB could be removed from the system, adding the transaction directly from the SES-triggered event, and that would work for most cases.
- Aaargh20318 7y ago> transactions will typically take a couple days to show up in the statement Wait, in what century do you live that your online banking transaction overview doesn't have up to date data ? Also, your bank allows you to log in with just a username/password ?
- derefr 7y agoA banking "statement" usually refers to a PDF you can download; the electronic version of the thing they'd previously send you by mail. The online banking CRUD interface might have up-to-date data, but it isn't an API, and being behind some weird proprietary single-sign-on setup makes it pretty hard to scrape, too. > Also, your bank allows you to log in with just a username/password ? Yes, this is common in the US (and here in Canada, too.) We sometimes get asked for "security questions", but support for 2FA is extremely rare, and I don't think there's any bank in North America that requires 2FA to login to your online banking. (The "government or bank issues you a smart card that can be used for session encryption; bank issues you an adapter to plug it into your computer" thing doesn't happen here.)
- Aaargh20318 7y ago> The online banking CRUD interface might have up-to-date data, but it isn't an API, and being behind some weird proprietary single-sign-on setup makes it pretty hard to scrape, too. That’a why they also provide an API. They are required by law to do so (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Payment_Services_Directive https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Payment_Services_Directive) > I don't think there's any bank in North America that requires 2FA to login to your online banking. This is required by the same law.
- soverance 7y agoBank of America only added 2FA as an opt-in option starting in 2017. It is most definitely not required... Law or not. I'm pretty certain it's the same way with every other major US bank.
- sobani 7y ago@Aaargh20318 could've mentioned that he linked to the EU laws about banking.
- sobani 7y ago> > I don't think there's any bank in North America that requires 2FA to login to your online banking. > This is required by the same law. FYI: no bank has to follow EU laws in North America.
- asdfman123 7y agoIt probably started as a side project that would specifically let them experiment with those technologies.
- simmanian 7y agoDownloading and uploading bank statements is a manual process, unless you're willing to give the service your bank ID/PW, right? Seems to me if you set up your bank accounts to send you notification emails for any balance change, you can automatically reflect the balance without needing to deal with sensitive credentials.