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The crazy thing is, I was recently looking for a simple financial tracking app, and MOST of them required you to log in with your bank ID and password. I though

The crazy thing is, I was recently looking for a simple financial tracking app, and MOST of them required you to log in with your bank ID and password. I thought it was insane to give a third party that kind of access, but it was hard to find an app that didn't almost require that as a core functionality for it to work.

RileyJames 5y ago
What did you end up selecting? And do you know how it accesses the necessary financial data?
- hungryforcodes 5y ago
  Frustratingly I still haven't found anything. There was a guy actually who posted a kind of Progressive Web App here on Hacker News to solve this exact problem. It stored everything in local storage in the browser. It's really cool, but it was hard to see stuff on the desktop, as there was no link to the phone. Also you had to enter everything manually, which was OK for me. I'm still searching. I personally am looking for some solution that DOESN'T access any data, or if it does, then stores it in an encrypted way I'm satisfied with. All the Canadian solutions LITERALLY ask you for your user ID (bank card number...), and password to access ALL the website of your bank. I'm just thinking -- all it takes is one hack and...
  - igammarays 5y ago
    You might want to try Actualbudget.com which has local native apps and the option for E2E encryption, but does not automatically import transactions (though I believe CSV import is supported).
    - hungryforcodes 5y ago
      Thanks for the link. I downloaded it and am checking it out :)
igammarays 5y ago
If you're with the big US banks (Chase, US Bank, Capital One, and others) they provide OAuth connections which, if implemented correctly by finance apps, don't require bank ID and password, and have legal agreements enforced with everyone on the supply chain which restrict how they can use or sell your data. Shameless plug: my finance app (Fintable.io) provides OAuth-based connections to many large US banks via Finicity.

RileyJames 5y ago

What did you end up selecting? And do you know how it accesses the necessary financial data?

hungryforcodes 5y ago
Frustratingly I still haven't found anything. There was a guy actually who posted a kind of Progressive Web App here on Hacker News to solve this exact problem. It stored everything in local storage in the browser. It's really cool, but it was hard to see stuff on the desktop, as there was no link to the phone. Also you had to enter everything manually, which was OK for me. I'm still searching. I personally am looking for some solution that DOESN'T access any data, or if it does, then stores it in an encrypted way I'm satisfied with. All the Canadian solutions LITERALLY ask you for your user ID (bank card number...), and password to access ALL the website of your bank. I'm just thinking -- all it takes is one hack and...
- igammarays 5y ago
  You might want to try Actualbudget.com which has local native apps and the option for E2E encryption, but does not automatically import transactions (though I believe CSV import is supported).
  - hungryforcodes 5y ago
    Thanks for the link. I downloaded it and am checking it out :)

igammarays 5y ago

If you're with the big US banks (Chase, US Bank, Capital One, and others) they provide OAuth connections which, if implemented correctly by finance apps, don't require bank ID and password, and have legal agreements enforced with everyone on the supply chain which restrict how they can use or sell your data. Shameless plug: my finance app (Fintable.io) provides OAuth-based connections to many large US banks via Finicity.