Webconnect vs OFX - Quicken does it why not Moneydance?
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Support for other download formats beyond OFX would be greatly appreciated. Quicken and MS Money offer this and I so much want to jump ship from Quicken to Moneydance. The only problem is 95% of what I do with the software revolves around quickly downloading from my bank web sites. A couple use Direct Connect via OFX but most are using Quicken's WebConnect such as PayPal and many of my credit card companies.
I think the pricing on this software is great. It is what I pay for Quicken every couple years so now that it is almost time for me to upgrade again, I want to go to Moneydance and get rid of Quicken for good.
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1
Ben Spencer
on 01 Jun, 2010 07:52 PM
Which other download formats do you have in mind. Moneydance supports OFX, QFX, OFC and QIF. It ids my understanding that you can go to the PayPal website and download your paypal account in QIF format and then import this into Moneydance.
Quicken Webconnect simply means that Quicken is going to the banks web site for you, logging in and downloading the file. If a bank is supported by quicken webconnect you can manually login into that banks website download the file and import it into Moneydance.
Ben Spencer
Moneydance Support
2
glenn
on 01 Jun, 2010 08:09 PM
Yeah, I know I can manually do it. It is the automated part that I really like and use a lot. It is QIF format.
I am purchasing Moneydance right now actually on another screen. It is really nice and may take a little getting use to after years and years of Quicken. But all in all, I would say it is the only Linux replacement there is. The others simply don't measure up.
I was running gnuCash but its online banking interface requires way too much from the user. I am a tech head but it was still too much of a pain. When it comes to my banking, I just want it to work without me doing this, that and the other.
I think if Moneydance could go to web sites and do the download of QIF files, that would be awesome. Even if it was an add-in of some sort.
3
Ben Spencer
on 01 Jun, 2010 08:25 PM
There are literally thousands of banks and they all configure there websites slightly differently. Webconnect is webscraping the info from those sites. We would have to set up a database of every bank and store data on how they have configured their site in order to do the download. And each time the bank modified their website (such as changing the page the QIF download link is on or changing their URL structure) we would have to notice and update our database. The amount of effort this would take would make the moneydance project un-economical. Intuit (Quicken) is able to do this because they have tens of millions of users and thousands of employees. Fortunately however there are 3rd party companies that provide a service similar to quicken webconnect that we could integrate into Moneydance. I think it is likely that we will use such a service in the future.
Ben Spencer
4
glenn
on 01 Jun, 2010 09:15 PM
Yes, I assumed it was some such thing like that based on the interaction of the screens that come up. I think they may also have some sort of "learning" that the script can do to adjust.
In any case, wedging in one of those services would be pretty cool. Assuming it isn't a high cost subscription in the end. I wouldn't mind paying something but not too much of course.
After all, I pay for Quicken and OFX access as it is now. So a small fee for the rest would be worth it and somewhat expected.
Thanks for the feedback. How do I mark this as completed?
5
-Kevin N.
on 02 Jun, 2010 12:58 AM
Hi glenn,
Upper right hand corner... "Resolve the discussion"
-Kevin N.