4 ms·

Buxfer is giving Mint, other personal finance sites, a run for their money

31 points by ashu 19y ago

Xichekolas 19y ago
I just use it to split up bills and such, but I really do love buxfer. If you guys ever want a third, I'd probably work for you for free... I'm a nut for personal finance...
- ashu 19y ago
  Hey, we are not hiring just right now, but will be doing so very soon. Send your resume our way? :)
  - Xichekolas 19y ago
    I was out of town until today, so I just saw your comment. Rest assured when I'm done with my current gig this May I'll shoot one your way. Thanks for the glory that is Buxfer!
tocomment 19y ago
I still don't understand how these sites access the banks' data. Is it screen scraping?
- ashu 19y ago
  We use the Direct OFX protocol for accessing the data. We use screen scraping only for 2-3 banks which either don't support OFX or charge their users exorbitant fees for OFX access.
marvin 19y ago
A major problem with all of these personal finance startups is that I can't use their software. I happen to live in Norway...have you thought about the problem of getting access to data from banks that aren't quite as standards-compliant as their American counterparts? We have excellent Internet banking systems over here (generally speaking better than yours, or so I hear), but there is no chance in hell that you'll have time to make a database of every single bank and its system. I tried out one of the other startups mentioned in the article, and one of them actually has _one_ Norwegian bank in its database...out of 30 or so. I do, however, want to use your software. The systems currently in place are a _lot_ more clunky than they should be, and it is difficult to see the big picture in my personal finances without the pie charts. Any suggestions? I have the potential to be a really devoted customer.
- bayareaguy 19y ago
  there is no chance in hell that you'll have time to make a database of every single bank and its system Perhaps you need something with web-like or Wiki-like adoption characteristics. If just a few customers from each bank could contribute the logic to access it to a larger site then soon all the banks with any customers will be accessable.
- ashu 19y ago
  Marvin: I know that Norwegian banks don't use OFX, but maybe they use an equivalent protocol. Do you know if they use / support HBCI? Or anything else? Let us know! Also, there _is_ a chance that we can make a system for each of the banks (since we have the infrastructure already working!) All we need are test bank accounts -- if you could provide them, you'd be set :)
  - marvin 19y ago
    There _is_ a test account for my bank, and probably the rest of them as well...but it is in Norwegian. https://nettbank.edb.com/3625/demo/index.html https://nettbank.edb.com/3625/demo/index.html (just give blank names and passwords) I have looked around for any export options, but I couldn't find any. I did send an e-mail to the corporation (https://nettbank.edb.com/ https://nettbank.edb.com/) that maintains the system asking whether they have plans to support any such protocols. The language barrier is a bitch, eh... :/ I'd say we abolish all other languages than English. Much easier.
    - ashu 19y ago
      The language barrier is suddenly problematic. However, not having an export option is more of an issue, I think. Aren't even CSV / Excel exports provided?
      - marvin 19y ago
        Oh my. You're not half bad at this. I am sorry I missed it. Now I feel really embarassed :\ There are two links, not implemented in the demo, that export either a .csv file or an Excel spreadsheet containing data on all transactions in a single account, for the last 1.5 months. Four columns: date, explanation, in, out. Here is an image to help: http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=2175536082&size=o http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=2175536082&size=... Sadly, the account selector doesn't seem to be implemented in the demo. The links to export are csv: https://nettbank.edb.com/payment/transigo/transactions_export?debtaccount=MY-ACCOUNT-NUMBER xls: https://nettbank.edb.com/payment/transigo/transactions_export?type=excel&debtaccount=MY-ACCOUNT-NUMBER ...MY-ACCOUNT-NUMBER being replaced by eg. 1234.56.78901. Does this help? I still think it's a bit of a cludge to have to implement this manually for every bank, but maybe you will think of a better way...

31 points by ashu 19y ago

I just use it to split up bills and such, but I really do love buxfer. If you guys ever want a third, I'd probably work for you for free... I'm a nut for personal finance...

ashu 19y ago
Hey, we are not hiring just right now, but will be doing so very soon. Send your resume our way? :)
- Xichekolas 19y ago
  I was out of town until today, so I just saw your comment. Rest assured when I'm done with my current gig this May I'll shoot one your way. Thanks for the glory that is Buxfer!

tocomment 19y ago

I still don't understand how these sites access the banks' data. Is it screen scraping?

ashu 19y ago
We use the Direct OFX protocol for accessing the data. We use screen scraping only for 2-3 banks which either don't support OFX or charge their users exorbitant fees for OFX access.

marvin 19y ago

A major problem with all of these personal finance startups is that I can't use their software. I happen to live in Norway...have you thought about the problem of getting access to data from banks that aren't quite as standards-compliant as their American counterparts? We have excellent Internet banking systems over here (generally speaking better than yours, or so I hear), but there is no chance in hell that you'll have time to make a database of every single bank and its system. I tried out one of the other startups mentioned in the article, and one of them actually has _one_ Norwegian bank in its database...out of 30 or so. I do, however, want to use your software. The systems currently in place are a _lot_ more clunky than they should be, and it is difficult to see the big picture in my personal finances without the pie charts. Any suggestions? I have the potential to be a really devoted customer.

bayareaguy 19y ago
there is no chance in hell that you'll have time to make a database of every single bank and its system Perhaps you need something with web-like or Wiki-like adoption characteristics. If just a few customers from each bank could contribute the logic to access it to a larger site then soon all the banks with any customers will be accessable.
ashu 19y ago
Marvin: I know that Norwegian banks don't use OFX, but maybe they use an equivalent protocol. Do you know if they use / support HBCI? Or anything else? Let us know! Also, there _is_ a chance that we can make a system for each of the banks (since we have the infrastructure already working!) All we need are test bank accounts -- if you could provide them, you'd be set :)
- marvin 19y ago
  There _is_ a test account for my bank, and probably the rest of them as well...but it is in Norwegian. https://nettbank.edb.com/3625/demo/index.html https://nettbank.edb.com/3625/demo/index.html (just give blank names and passwords) I have looked around for any export options, but I couldn't find any. I did send an e-mail to the corporation (https://nettbank.edb.com/ https://nettbank.edb.com/) that maintains the system asking whether they have plans to support any such protocols. The language barrier is a bitch, eh... :/ I'd say we abolish all other languages than English. Much easier.
  - ashu 19y ago
    The language barrier is suddenly problematic. However, not having an export option is more of an issue, I think. Aren't even CSV / Excel exports provided?
    - marvin 19y ago
      Oh my. You're not half bad at this. I am sorry I missed it. Now I feel really embarassed :\ There are two links, not implemented in the demo, that export either a .csv file or an Excel spreadsheet containing data on all transactions in a single account, for the last 1.5 months. Four columns: date, explanation, in, out. Here is an image to help: http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=2175536082&size=o http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=2175536082&size=... Sadly, the account selector doesn't seem to be implemented in the demo. The links to export are csv: https://nettbank.edb.com/payment/transigo/transactions_export?debtaccount=MY-ACCOUNT-NUMBER xls: https://nettbank.edb.com/payment/transigo/transactions_export?type=excel&debtaccount=MY-ACCOUNT-NUMBER ...MY-ACCOUNT-NUMBER being replaced by eg. 1234.56.78901. Does this help? I still think it's a bit of a cludge to have to implement this manually for every bank, but maybe you will think of a better way...