Biometric startup
Since "Search" isn't working, I can't tell if this subject has been raised before.
Just wanted to suggest that Moneydance be provided with the facility to launch it via a biometric passkey, via Windows Hello. I guess fingerprint might be the favourite form of passkey. Maybe add a PIN as alternate/fallback. I equipped my desktop with a fingerprint reader some time back, and it saves me a shedload of time, while being more secure than the password I used.
Keith Drury
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Support Staff 1 Posted by Maddy on 04 May, 2026 02:48 PM
Hi Keith,
Thank you for contacting Moneydance support.
There's an existing ticket in our ticketing system with your suggestion, so I've attached it to this discussion and the developers will be looking into it.
Please let us know if we can be of further assistance!
--
Maddy, Infinite Kind Support
2 Posted by keith on 04 May, 2026 06:23 PM
Thanks, Maddy. That's good news. Hope it's implemented soon
Keith Drury
On 04/05/2026 at 15:48, Maddy <[email blocked]> wrote:
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3 Posted by LarryCL on 04 May, 2026 09:57 PM
hi Keith,
I similarly requested this back in December https://infinitekind.tenderapp.com/discussions/suggestions/17411-us...
I doubt we're going to see this feature anytime soon. The developer recently posted https://infinitekind.tenderapp.com/discussions/general-questions/24... the top things he's working on, and this is not on the list.
As for a roadmap, here are the most important Moneydance things (in my opinion) that I am working on:
UK & EU Online Banking
A new budgeting system
Meeting (or rather proving) Fidelity/Plaid agreement requirements
Preparing (read: bug fixing) new Android app
Investment transaction merging (seriously!)
Dealing with random issues that are brought up by customers
4 Posted by keith on 05 May, 2026 09:46 AM
Hi Larry
Thanks. I feared as much.
On 04/05/2026 at 22:57, LarryCL <[email blocked]> wrote:
Support Staff 5 Posted by Sean Reilly on 05 May, 2026 10:57 AM
Hi Keith,
This is doable on iOS and Android, but I don't know of any standard APIs that I can use to authenticate on Windows, Mac, and Linux. The passphrase encryption is the most secure thing to use as the password itself is used to decrypt the data in the file.
On macOS we can in theory store the passphrase in the keychain, and we could possibly do the same thing on Windows, but I view that as slightly less secure (but much more convenient) than enabling the current file encryption passphrase.
Thanks,
Sean
--
Sean Reilly
Developer, The Infinite Kind
https://infinitekind.com
6 Posted by keith on 05 May, 2026 02:18 PM
Hi Sean
Much appreciated. So is the security built into MD ATM, with the encryption of
data. If nothing else, I use the Tools | Accounts | Account Data screen as my
goto repository of account data, and I wouldn't like that info to be available
to anyone else using the machine!
My knowledge of Windows and its features is superficial only. My only guide as
to how Windows Hello works is
https://blocked/learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/apps/develop/security/windows-hello#:~:text=Windows%20Hello%20is%20a%20biometric,more%20secure%20and%20convenient%20method.
and I wouldn't say I can get my head round all of that, even. But having set
up not just the login to Windows 11 using fingerprint, and similarly within
Windows to launch the Roboform app, which I use a lot, I was just hoping that
MD could be adapted to work with Hello.
Regards
Keith Drury
=====================================================
On 05/05/2026 at 11:57, Sean Reilly <[email blocked]> wrote:
7 Posted by Stuart Beesley ... on 05 May, 2026 04:01 PM
The Moneydance dataset is always encrypted. The snag is that unless you change your password, an internal/default password is used. Thus, it’s much better and safer to set your own password.
8 Posted by LarryCL on 05 May, 2026 06:28 PM
@Sean Reilly, You might want to take a look at the open-source software package Cryptomator, as they recently implemented something similar.
At a 50,000 foot level, it's an analogous use-case: Cryptomator stores a user's data in a secure vault, and protects this vault with an encryption password. (The vault is analogous to the Moneydance file). Up until recently, a user had to manually enter their password into Crypromator at startup. Now with a recent (well, last year) release, Cryptomator can store this password in the system credential store (Windows Hello, MacOS Keychain, or Gnome Keyring) and use the native biometrics to unlock the credential store and automagically decrypt the vault. They also offer the option to store your password in an external password manager such as KeepassXC or Bitwarden. IMHO, this is exactly what Moneydance needs from a usability perspective.
See:
https://github.com/cryptomator/cryptomator
https://docs.cryptomator.org/desktop/password-and-recovery-key/#sto...
9 Posted by keith on 09 May, 2026 11:16 AM
Yes: perfectly happy with that. Except that filling in a password is time
consuming. Another thought I had - likely infeasible or otherwise anarchic! -
is somehow to make the MD password filling visible to Roboform (whose own
login is per fingerprint) so that it could become a Roboform login, actuated
by the single-click Roboform icon which appears by other logins, but not ATM
that for MD.
Keith
========================================================================================================
On 05/05/2026 at 17:01, Stuart Beesley (Mr Toolbox)
<[email blocked]> wrote:
// Please reply above this line
==================================================
From: Stuart Beesley (Mr Toolbox)
The Moneydance dataset is always encrypted. The snag is that unless you change
your password, an internal/default password is used. Thus, its much better
and safer to set your own password.
On Tue, May 05 at 07:18 AM PDT, keith wrote:
Hi Sean
Much appreciated. So is the security built into MD ATM, with the encryption of
data. If nothing else, I use the Tools | Accounts | Account Data screen as my
goto repository of account data, and I wouldn't like that info to be available
to anyone else using the machine!
My knowledge of Windows and its features is superficial only. My only guide as
to how Windows Hello works is
https://blocked/learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/apps/develop/security/windows-hello#:~:text=Windows%20Hello%20is%20a%20biometric,more%20secure%20and%20convenient%20method.
and I wouldn't say I can get my head round all of that, even. But having set
up not just the login to Windows 11 using fingerprint, and similarly within
Windows to launch the Roboform app, which I use a lot, I was just hoping that
MD could be adapted to work with Hello.
Regards
Keith Drury
Support Staff 10 Posted by Sean Reilly on 10 May, 2026 07:52 AM
Hi Keith,
That is a great point - I think the most effective solution for this is to make the password field work with password managers such as 1Password, Strongbox, KeePass, etc. This will let you use a strong password for Moneydance encryption and also tie into your preferred password manager. I will look into it!
Thanks,
Sean
11 Posted by derekkent23 on 11 May, 2026 07:31 AM
Sean don’t forget Norton Password Manager part of the Norton app.
12 Posted by Stuart Beesley ... on 11 May, 2026 08:17 AM
and of course the Apple iCloud Keychain
13 Posted by Chris on 24 May, 2026 01:13 AM
Hi,
I am looking forward to the implementation of bio-metrics for Money Dance on the windows platform. Its already there on IOS and MacOS, but missing off windoze.
Please put this facility on soon!
Thanks
Chris