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In the US, every bank account and credit card I've found will let you download OFX or QFX files of transactions, and use the GnuCash import features (to match u

by neilv 3y ago

In the US, every bank account and credit card I've found will let you download OFX or QFX files of transactions, and use the GnuCash import features (to match up with transactions I've already added, and to add any I've missed). There's also a way for GnuCash to sync data with some financial institutions automatically, but I prefer to save the data interchange files long-term anyway. Sounds like this UK Open Banking isn't entirely an open standard for open interoperation, but maybe a little closer to a cabal?

aeonik 3y ago
Unfortunately USAA has disabled OFX and QFX. I hope this doesn't become a trend. I can't believe getting programmatic access to finances can be so difficult in this day and age.
- neilv 3y ago
  Has anyone asked them to put it back? It might be easier for them to revert sooner rather than later.
  - aeonik 3y ago
    Yes people have asked. One they removed access they rolled out a Quicken partnership, so I assume this is some decision made by management as part of a business deal. But I'm only speculating based on the timing.
    - gosub100 3y ago
      I bet its a new plan for revenue extraction. quietly remove the feature, then upsell a "premium package" that includes exporting your own data in that format.
- pylua 3y ago
  You can’t talk to their ofx server or can’t export qfx and ofx files ? The latter would be terrible. The former seems to be more and more common.
- mikrl 3y ago
  Oh that might be what affected me in Canada. I was using Mint connected to my RBC account and loved it, but it stopped working forever about 2 years ago. Now I just do it all on spreadsheets which isn’t as bad as I thought, but Mint was still nice and actually pinged me when I overspent in a category. Now I have to remember (taking away cycles) that I can only spend $X, Y times a month for lunch, beers etc.
Nextgrid 3y ago
> UK Open Banking isn't entirely an open standard for open interoperation, but maybe a little closer to a cabal? That's correct, "open" is a sham, there's nothing open about it. You need to either have regulatory approval or piggyback off a gatekeeper's (TrueLayer, Plaid, etc) regulatory license to even get access, and when you do, you realize how terrible the data quality is and that it's near-impossible to build anything serious on top of it. The co-founder of a business I consulted for previously recently wrote a nice summary of the issues you'd get if you wanted to embark on that path: https://www.adamjgo.com/p/the-open-banking-non-standards https://www.adamjgo.com/p/the-open-banking-non-standards

by neilv 3y ago

aeonik 3y ago

Unfortunately USAA has disabled OFX and QFX. I hope this doesn't become a trend. I can't believe getting programmatic access to finances can be so difficult in this day and age.

neilv 3y ago
Has anyone asked them to put it back? It might be easier for them to revert sooner rather than later.
- aeonik 3y ago
  Yes people have asked. One they removed access they rolled out a Quicken partnership, so I assume this is some decision made by management as part of a business deal. But I'm only speculating based on the timing.
  - gosub100 3y ago
    I bet its a new plan for revenue extraction. quietly remove the feature, then upsell a "premium package" that includes exporting your own data in that format.
pylua 3y ago
You can’t talk to their ofx server or can’t export qfx and ofx files ? The latter would be terrible. The former seems to be more and more common.
mikrl 3y ago
Oh that might be what affected me in Canada. I was using Mint connected to my RBC account and loved it, but it stopped working forever about 2 years ago. Now I just do it all on spreadsheets which isn’t as bad as I thought, but Mint was still nice and actually pinged me when I overspent in a category. Now I have to remember (taking away cycles) that I can only spend $X, Y times a month for lunch, beers etc.

Nextgrid 3y ago

> UK Open Banking isn't entirely an open standard for open interoperation, but maybe a little closer to a cabal? That's correct, "open" is a sham, there's nothing open about it. You need to either have regulatory approval or piggyback off a gatekeeper's (TrueLayer, Plaid, etc) regulatory license to even get access, and when you do, you realize how terrible the data quality is and that it's near-impossible to build anything serious on top of it. The co-founder of a business I consulted for previously recently wrote a nice summary of the issues you'd get if you wanted to embark on that path: https://www.adamjgo.com/p/the-open-banking-non-standards https://www.adamjgo.com/p/the-open-banking-non-standards