[GNC] Using Plaid

[Kalpesh Patel]

Vanguard doesn't provide ability to download OFX formatted data as a download
option but there is indirect way to get it. I have been happily downloading so
using something called PocketSense which I have mentioned in the past here. It
can be found here:
https://sites.google.com/site/pocketsense/home/msmoneyfixp1. It is quite
simple to setup actually and happily works with Vanguard and Fidelity and
number of others financial providers. I also believe ofxget is likely to work
as well although I have not tried with it. 

Sadly, I do agree that download-you-data landscape for finances in the US is
just broken and likely to stay that way.


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Message: 5
Date: Wed, 1 Mar 2023 08:26:12 -0800
From: Jean L <ripngo at gmail.com>
To: Steve Brown <sbrown at opensat.com>, gnucash-user at gnucash.org
Subject: Re: [GNC] Using Plaid
Message-ID: <5f7b6e1c-6043-44df-033f-4c702e4eb1a0 at gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8; format=flowed

And now, vanguard apparently no longer offers OFX as a download option,
just csv files. >:(
hopefully this is temporary, but I'm not holding my breath.

The entire download-you-data landscape for finances in the US is just broken

Jean

On 3/1/2023 2:51 AM, Steve Brown wrote:
> This is interesting.
>
> https://www.plaidsettlement.com/
>
> This prompted me to look at a Quicken OFX log after downloading
> investment transactions from Raymond James. That log stays traffic
> comes from
>
> https://directconnect.rjf.com/eftxweb/access.ofx
>
> but the traffic really comes from
>
> https://services.quicken.com/ofx-secure-plus
>
> Third parties collecting your bank credentials and sniffing your
> financial traffic, what can go wrong?
>
> Steve
>
> On Tue, 2023-02-28 at 15:51 -0800, Jean Laroche wrote:
>> To me it's very different.? You're not giving a user name and a
>> password
>> to AQBanking. I started using Plaid, then got really spooked by the
>> fact
>> that they do have access to your account as if they were you. Removed
>> my
>> account and canceled my keys.
>> There are no current alternatives at the moment, unlike in Europe
>> where
>> there seem to be, I believe mandated by the EU.
>> I wrote automated scripts to scrape my banks for the OFX files, but
>> that's a royal pain in the butt, and it's not robust at all.
>>
>> Jean
>>
>> On 2/28/23 3:44 PM, Ben Pracht wrote:
>>> ? I read that disclaimer. It says to keep the token secure and yes,
>>> the
>>> bearer of that token gets access. As they said:
>>> "The access token generated by using this tool is sensitive
>>> material as it
>>> grants access to your accounts. It should be handled with care and
>>> protected from unauthorized access. You must be sure to store it in
>>> such a
>>> way that makes it impossible for others to gain access. The
>>> creators and
>>> maintainers of Plaid2QIF are in no way responsible if you mishandle
>>> your
>>> access token."
>>>
>>> GIving Plaid2QIF this token is no different than me giving a
>>> username and
>>> password to AQBanking, except that Plaid has a chance of working. I
>>> don't
>>> like having an intermediary, in this case Plaid and Plaid2QIF, but
>>> OFX is
>>> unusable, and at the moment, AQBanking isn't even showing the list
>>> of banks
>>> anymore. Does anyone know of a US bank or credit union that uses a
>>> modern
>>> REST based API that they actually share with developers?
>>>
>>> Regards,
>>> Ben
>>>
>>> On 2/22/23 23:08, john wrote:
>>>
>>> On Feb 22, 2023, at 2:01 PM, Ben Pracht<ben.pracht.news at gmail.com>
>>> <ben.pracht.news at gmail.com> ? wrote:
>>>
>>> I'd like to use Plaid with GnuCash. There is a plaid2qif project
>>> that
>>> claims to have been extensively tested with GnuCash and Plaid.
>>> However,
>>> when I created the Plaid account, it asks for either a limited
>>> developer
>>> account or a production account with a compliance audit. What
>>> account type
>>> should I use? Anything else helpful to know?
>>>
>>>
>>> Neither. See
>>>
https://github.com/ebridges/plaid2qif/blob/master/gen-access-token/README.md
>>> ,
>>>
>>> Pay particular attention to the disclaimer at the bottom of that
>>> page.
>>>
>>> Regards,
>>> John Ralls
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