utilization of standards

[David Reiser]

On 20 Aug 2007, at 8:05:06 AM, Maciej Gawinecki wrote:

> Hi,
>
> When I discovered your program I start wondering:
>
> if there is open and free standard OFX defining syntax and semantics
>    of account statements, then why so many banks use their own  
> approaches
>    to form them: CSV, TXT etc ? Is it the matter of difficulty and  
> money,
>    while adapting an application (e.g. e-bank site) to OFX standard ?
>
> Please, let me know, if you have any hipothesis or experience,
>
> Regards,
>
> Maciej

I think it is a combination of money and inertia. While it is a  
standard, OFX was developed by Intuit, Checkfree, and Microsoft. The  
biggest proponent of OFX is Intuit, who sells server software and/or  
services to financial organizations. But it seems they charge a lot,  
and treat their commercial customers about as well as they treat  
individual purchasers of Quicken licenses (that is, not many people  
like to deal with Intuit).

So, if a bank already has an older system that at least works, there  
is resistance to replacing it with a high cost alternative (Intuit/ 
Quicken with QFX, a slight variant of OFX).

My credit union flat out refused to upgrade when Quicken quit  
importing QIF format files. They still make QIF files available, and  
they actively discourage their customers from upgrading Quicken,  
since Intuit has quit providing QIF import capabilities (another  
format that they created!).

There are a few software service companies that provide OFX  
capabilities independent of Intuit, but their market share seems to  
be small in comparison to Intuit. I think the server side market  
(conservative bank managers) equates OFX with Intuit, and doesn't  
want to get trapped into Intuit's business web when  they don't see a  
strong correlation between one specific online bank capability and  
number of new customers acquired or improved retention of customers.

There are quite a few banks promoting their online banking that is  
independent of any personal computer captive/offline personal finance  
software -- all you need is a web browser and an internet connection.  
Even Intuit is going to offer an online version of Quicken, with no  
client software/data storage installed on the pc.

I'd love to see OFX more widely deployed, but I blame Intuit for  
strangling its growth.
--
David Reiser
dbreiser at earthlink.net