USAA have stopped supporting Direct Connect in July 2023
just a user - OFX appears to be a dying breed.
EDIT: UPDATE, as of July 4, 2023, it appears that USAA has shut down their Quicken access id system. That would render the current Moneydance OFX direct connect as useless.
If you wish to verify this or deny it, please post, as this is data based on only two days observation...
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Over two years ago, USAA "changed" OFX to particularly support Quicken. Stuart Beesley fixed the issue, I documented it.
So, two years. It was an indication that things were changing. MD+ was introduced and so on.
So, today, a simple question - is USAA (via OFX and the change profile) still working for you?
Mine works - sort of. I have to go to www.usaa.com/accessid and say "I approve!" and it stops the Error 2000 (Error general id - which basically means nothing) for - about two hours or so.
Other insights? I think we are near the end for USAA OFX.
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31 Posted by dwg on 05 Jul, 2023 11:28 PM
This is a bit of a laugh "USAA’s secure Open Banking API" What BS.
Quicken have added EWC+ which is just EWC with access based on tokens rather than username/passwords. EWC+ of course is proprietary to Quicken/Intuit and requires the use of an aggregator - Intuit in this case.
So USAA is just using the EWC+ protocol. Of course this is all for your security and convenience - sarcasm intended.
32 Posted by Mark D on 06 Jul, 2023 01:09 PM
Yes. It just started failing for me and I noticed it this morning. While I can still go to USAA and "Allow Quicken Direct Connect to access your USAA information?" it no longer works. It did last week doing that. Quite a bummer. I'll have to try the CSV import thing.
33 Posted by Phil on 06 Jul, 2023 03:23 PM
It has failed for me too.
What the what?
Not back to the stone ages (.csv) :-(
34 Posted by jdwx on 06 Jul, 2023 05:01 PM
Yup, I am also in the "silently not downloading" boat as of July 1st.
Does anyone have the MD+ thing working with USAA, downloading transactions from July? Or have they gone full "Quicken or GTFO" at this point?
35 Posted by brian on 06 Jul, 2023 05:11 PM
Thanks to Stuart Beesley and dtd (python script ?) work around my USAA Moneydance has been working flawlessly for two years. Sadly as of this morning I'm getting the silent download w/o actually getting any records. I'm considering MD+ but before I go down that path what is recommended way to roll back Stuart chages?
36 Posted by Mike M on 06 Jul, 2023 06:11 PM
For: jdwx and brian
Yes, I have USAA downloads working with MoneyDance+ (using the PLAID
aggregator service) after using Steward's B. and 'dtd' script work around
previously.
In the MoneyDance upgrade, you can slect all available tramnsaction to
download to a date range. I used the "all available transactions" and had
to fiddle with rebalancing my account afterwards. I wouls advise first
backing up your MoneyDance database before starting any MoneyDance+ upgrade.
This link was helpful in removing the script from being used for downloads
and starting the MoneyDance+ upgrade (using PLAID for downloads).
https://infinitekind.tenderapp.com/kb/moneydance/connect-accounts-with-moneydance
Hope this helps,
usaf7378
On Thu, Jul 6, 2023 at 12:01 PM jdwx <[email blocked]>
wrote:
37 Posted by Mike M on 06 Jul, 2023 06:12 PM
For: jdwx and brian
Yes, I have USAA downloads working with MoneyDance+ (using the PLAID
aggregator service) after using Steward's B. and 'dtd' script work around
previously.
In the MoneyDance upgrade, you can slect all available tramnsaction to
download to a date range. I used the "all available transactions" and had
to fiddle with rebalancing my account afterwards. I wouls advise first
backing up your MoneyDance database before starting any MoneyDance+ upgrade.
This link was helpful in removing the script from being used for downloads
and starting the MoneyDance+ upgrade (using PLAID for downloads).
https://infinitekind.tenderapp.com/kb/moneydance/connect-accounts-with-moneydance
Hope this helps,
usaf7378
On Thu, Jul 6, 2023 at 12:11 PM brian <[email blocked]>
wrote:
38 Posted by Mark D on 06 Jul, 2023 06:32 PM
So, here's what I did to work around this issue (for who knows how long, forever now?), be sure you have already downloaded the transactions you need to a .CSV file on your PC:
Voila! You should have imported your bank transactions from USAA into Moneydance. Consider this hopefully one of the easier 12 step programs... ;)
39 Posted by Phil on 06 Jul, 2023 06:35 PM
Marc - Can you email me screenshots? [email blocked]
I may be able to resize them and post them.
Thanks.
Phil
40 Posted by Mark D on 06 Jul, 2023 06:54 PM
Thank so much Phil. It ended up being a Google Drive share issue. It wanted a link directly to a .jpg/.png/etc. file. Fixed now.
41 Posted by dtd on 06 Jul, 2023 09:04 PM
Well, we had a good run for two years. Stuart is currently removing the (two) USAA script changes from Toolbox.
@brian - you don't have to "roll back" Stuart's fix, you just have to disable the connection. re the link - this is how to disable OFX for USAA or others:
If you you were using the OFX service method before subscribing to Moneydance +, you should remove the OFX connection prior to connecting your accounts with Moneydance +. To achieve this: launch Moneydance, select the relevant account from the left side bar and choose Online > Set Up Online Banking. Select the "Disable" button to remove the OFX connection - restart Moneydance!
@jdwx - yes USAA works with MD+ - I've been running both OFX and MD+ with USAA for a few weeks now. (I knew how to get to both versus OFX always winning)
Time for me to turn off USAA OFX as well.
As others have noted, there are probably three options now available:
1) Moneydance+ USAA connection
2) CSV downloads, upload with CSV extension
3) manual entry
There are positives/negatives with each of these, but basically those are the choices we now have.
Oh, btw, because "dtd" probably sounds impersonal, my first name is Dan, if you prefer to use that.
42 Posted by Stuart Beesley ... on 06 Jul, 2023 10:26 PM
Toolbox 🧰 ~~~~~ 😞 😢
43 Posted by brian on 06 Jul, 2023 10:41 PM
Dan! Thanks to you and Stuart for all your help over past couple of years! Decided I'm going to move to MD+.
44 Posted by Jeff on 06 Jul, 2023 11:02 PM
So the only way to download transactions is to pay for MD+ or download a csv for each individual USAA account? 5 accounts gets old quick. I came to MD because Quicken went subscription based. Now MD+ is 3x more expensive than Quicken, subscription based, and initially cost more than Quicken. I just can't win! Why is MD+ is able to download transactions but MD is not? I really don't want to go back to Quicken!
45 Posted by dwg on 06 Jul, 2023 11:11 PM
MD+ uses an aggregator, in this case Plaid, they have various techniques they use to download from the institutions, doing this is part of their core business so they spend a lot of time, effort and money on it.
Moneydance makes used of a client/server protocol called Direct Connect, it requires a server at the bank end and Moneydance is the client, thus giving the ability to download transactions. If the bank does not provide a server it does not work.
Moneydance is not and will not be an aggregator, that is not their business. The subscription you pay for MD+ is used to pay Plaid for the transaction downloads, that is how they make their money, it is fee for service.
FWIW Quicken is also not an aggregator but they use EWC/EWC+ this is the aggregator Intuit set up to support Quicken and Mint, many years ago.
There is a discussion in the forums looking at the costs and it comes out comparable, overall.
46 Posted by Jeff on 06 Jul, 2023 11:34 PM
Thank you for the explanation. That really makes sense now. Plaid is what is pricing everyone away from MD+.
I was able to find the thread comparing MD and Quicken. It appears back around April the MD+ monthly subscription price was raised from $2 to $4, which was what was compared. I am seeing the monthly price of $9 now? I guess this was increased within the last week? MD+ is not even close to Quicken's price now ($3/month for 1 year then $5/month). Very bad timing for me as a customer but I guess great timing for MD - right when USAA members get locked out. I really hate Quicken but not enough to pay 3x more for MD+.
47 Posted by dtd on 06 Jul, 2023 11:40 PM
just a user - Jeff, first of all, this is all about making you move to aggregators (which cost more money). Quicken is an aggregator, so is Plaid (Moneydance+ is not a profit center for Moneydance - they just hand that subscription money to Plaid to stay viable.) This is not a Moneydance bit - it's about banks supporting aggregators and ignoring other financial software.
So, as to subscription based - Moneydance is still a one time purchase until you need to upgrade. The subscription is for MD+ which is the aggregator Plaid. As to 3x more expensive, that part I don't get - at $40/year for MD+/Plaid, are you saying you only pay $13 per year for Quicken? If so - yes - you should go back.
To answer your specific question, MD+ can download transactions because Plaid is an aggregator like Quicken. MD is very much into privacy, and they were rejected as a "private aggregator" (which is what they wanted to be - i.e. make each user a "secret aggregator" - but they didn't have a U.S. presence (they are U.K. based) so were rejected and had to build the MD+ interface, and yes, pay Plaid that subscription fee).
Does that help explain things? I can go further, if you have questions.
I can also do the math with you if you want to - absolutely MD with MD+ is less competitive vs. Quicken, especially if you were using a "cheaper" version of Quicken (I was using Home and Business), but longer term - (2-3 years) MD still basically wins.
48 Posted by dtd on 06 Jul, 2023 11:42 PM
The $9 price is for subscription only... i.e don't buy Moneydance, just pay a fee. So $90 per year for both MD and MD+
I (just a user) personally don't recommend that option, but some might prefer it.
49 Posted by Jeff on 06 Jul, 2023 11:51 PM
Sorry, I do not see a way to purchase MD+ separately. I assumed $9 for MD+ regardless if I already purchased MD. Thanks for the info!
50 Posted by jdwx on 06 Jul, 2023 11:54 PM
Oh god help me... I signed up for MoneyDance+ and it has re-downloaded over 2,000 transactions I now have to merge again. Some of them going back over a year.
51 Posted by dtd on 06 Jul, 2023 11:56 PM
You can buy Moneydance for $65, with one free major upgrade. If you wish to upgrade after that , it's $30, and you get another free major upgrade.
And that's it - other than a lot of U.S. customers want MD+ (from Plaid). That is currently $4/month or $40/year.
52 Posted by dtd on 06 Jul, 2023 11:58 PM
Jeff - I think you've indicated you'll figure out the purchase then subscribe bit vs subscribe only, but if you have other questions - start a new thread and I will answer. We are getting off topic.
53 Posted by dtd on 07 Jul, 2023 12:00 AM
jdwx: did you get a message saying "when should MD+ start downloading"? Sounds like you said start from the beginning?
You can either restore from backup and do it again. Also, you can set up automerge in the preferences.
Or, yes, just merge - the issue here is that Plaid provides a different (hidden) FITID field which says "I've been downloaded don't do it again" than USAA, so MD can't tell it's a duplicate.
54 Posted by jdwx on 07 Jul, 2023 12:01 AM
"did you get a message saying "when should MD+ start downloading"?"
No.
55 Posted by dtd on 07 Jul, 2023 12:10 AM
Hmmm - and this is a brand new USAA in MD+ setup. That probably deserves a separate thread as that isn't supposed to happen - you are supposed to get a popup saying "when do you want to start downloading?" with a long list of dates, the first one being "everything" - which is what you appeared to get.
56 Posted by dtd on 07 Jul, 2023 12:21 AM
jdwx - another thing you can do (if you restore from backup) is to go to Online/Setup Moneydance+, find USAA, click toward the right side on your account, and then click "Reset Sync Date" - this should force that popup window and pick like June 1, 2023, so you have only June to merge.
57 Posted by Jeff on 07 Jul, 2023 12:53 AM
Just to let you know there must be something wrong with purchasing MD+ after already purchasing MD. There is no $4 option, only $9. When you go to set up MD+ in the app, then "Subscribe to MD+", a browser window opens with two options, monthly ($9) or annually ($90). No place to add license key or anything else to identify that the user that has already paid. I would have never known there was any other option if not for reading it in this thread.
58 Posted by dtd on 07 Jul, 2023 12:58 AM
Jeff - let's move to a new thread - you start it, I have some thoughts, but we are way beyond "USAA not working" at this point.
59 Posted by Jeff on 07 Jul, 2023 01:05 AM
You're right, sorry to hijack the thread! Thank you for your help!
60 Posted by Mark D on 07 Jul, 2023 12:50 PM
Re-posting this to make it newer in hopes that it might help others like me with just one (or two) bank account(s) and who don't want to pay for PLAID/MD+:
So, here's what I did to work around this issue (for who knows how long, forever now?) to sync transactions with USAA manually. Be sure you have already downloaded the transactions you need to a .CSV file on your PC:
Voila! You should have imported your bank transactions from USAA into Moneydance. Consider this hopefully one of the easier 12 step programs... ;)