[GNC] Using Plaid

Fri Mar 3 05:18:50 EST 2023

I've been using ofxget to download statements from Fidelity, Wells
Fargo and Truist for the last several months. I made a few changes so
it writes to a file that I import to Gnucash.

The ofxtools package also has support for creating billpay aggregates
however, nothing is implemented in ofxget. I added it. I've
successfully exported vendor and payment info from Gnucash and used the
modified ofxget to send billpay requests to Truist. This is really just
a very rough prototype to help me understand the issues. But, the
checks do get mailed.

BTW: "ofxget prof vanguard" shows a functioning OFX server. I'd suspect
that with the proper credentials, ofxget would happily download
statements.

Steve

On Thu, 2023-03-02 at 21:05 -0500, Kalpesh Patel wrote:
> 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.
> 
> 
> ------------------------------
> 
> 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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