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Show HN: Sssaving – Are you gaining or losing money each month?

sssaving.com

21 pointsguillelopez37 comments

What is it that gets people to give details about their bank accounts to just about everybody that asks politely enough? Am I paranoid or is it really this easy to get people to give up their financials that the drop of a hat?

I understand your concerns. But let me clarify that this is a secure service. All sensitive information is stored encrypted, all traffic runs entirely over encrypted SSL and all goes through Plaid Technologies, one of the most prominent service provider of banking data. If you would like some more info, you should check: https://plaid.com/security/

....yeah.

SSL libraries never have bugs.

Its a great idea if it could be done without giving you any of my bank credentials beyond what is on a check and basically public knowledge.

https://plaid.com/docs/#add-user

That right there is why I won't use it regardless. No offense to you or Plaid's security. Just the idea I'm going to hand over the same credentials that let me transfer money out of my institution isn't an acceptable solution.

I understand. Banks should implement reading credentials to avoid these problems.

Yeah, if only you could solve that problem instead. ;)

I don't agree with this mindset at all. People should build things they want to build. I agree—I wouldn't hand my bank credentials over to this service (or really any unknown third party), but I don't think we should say that the OP should have spent their time on something else.

Fair enough. However, I'm tired of cleaning up after people who don't care about obvious security issues. Really, really tired.

Working on it :)

Best of luck, let me know if you succeed :)

Zach here from Plaid (a bit late in responding). I understand the hesitations around privacy here; however, there's a difference between sharing credentials and account/routing number. SSSaving is using a read-only data feed that is authenticated by username and password. The app has no access to your account/routing data and cannot debit your account.

Your account and routing number are all that's needed to move money in or out of your account. SSSavings does not get these, nor should any application you don't want to debit you. Unfortunately, these numbers cannot be changed without shutting down the account (whereas credentials can be changed quickly).

Account numbers are usually hidden when logging in but are almost always available by downloading a statement or looking for any recently posted check images.

Same with routing numbers, though finding the routing number of a Bank of America account opened in CA, for instance, is just one google search away.

That said, I'm stoked about checking out Plaid sometime soon especially after reading the Yodlee docs (yikes!)

> You needed to be a spreadsheet junkie to be able to get some good insights.

> So we built a service that automatically analyzes your bank accounts

So, what kind of insights does SSSavings provide? What is it going to tell me? How is this more useful than looking over everything manually?

I also have most of my budget in a custom ODS spreadsheet. I'd love to be able to pull real-time data about current balances, number and type of transactions, etc. from some sort of API. That would be BOMB.

Well, the service is intended for people who don't do it manually. People who are lazy about their finance.

And the goal is for them to get automatically an email every week or month with basic information about:

— How much did they spent or win last month? — How much savings do they have in all their bank accounts? — How did their finances progressed in the last months? — How much do they normally spend each month? — For how long could they live with their current savings?

About having an API. You should check: plaid.com. That's the API service I am using on sssaving.com to get all data.

I'm impressed that it does 2-factor authentication. Mint has been dragging its feet on that for years.

Too bad there's no Vanguard integration. Can you add an input for monthly autodeposits?

Yes, we might explore the option to add autodeposits. Moreover the idea is to run autonomous.

Trust is lacking. I like the idea, but aborted the getting started process once I realized the app needs access to my bank.

I agree and did the same thing. I think it would also help if there was a sample "update e-mail" so users can get a feel for what value the site adds (e.g. vs Mint's e-mails). Otherwise, I'm hesitant to link my accounts without knowing what I'll get out of it.

That makes sense. We will add that. Thanks for the feedback.

We added tha sample: https://www.sssaving.com/sample

Out of curiosity, what would have made you trust it more?

I like this idea and I was able to successfully sign up and link my bank account.

My only suggestion would be to give me a better idea of what to expect when I receive my first email. Right now all I know is that I'm going to get an email in X days and that email will tell me something about how well or poorly I'm doing.

I like the site design too. Nice job.

Thanks for the feedback. The idea is to provide more information as the service grows.

Tempted. But I just got Mint recently and I really like it. What does this do better than Mint?

I second this. Mint gives me a clear perspective into all of my accounts. I don't really need the monthly reminder to check my bank accounts. I do it almost weekly.

When you check you accounts what are you looking for? Just balances? Or whether transactions have hit? Suspicious activity?

All of the above. Look over transactions, check balance, check trends. Honestly I do it as just something to do at times.

I might add more info about supported banks before users start to expend effort on signing up. As soon as I saw that my bank wasn't supported, I lost interest.

Sorry about that. Can I ask you which is your bank?

I don't want my bank accounts analized.

Sorry had to say it. There is a typo.

Typo fixed. Thanks.

I was a mint user for quite some time until I switched over to personal capital several months ago, was interested in trying this.

However once I signed up and went to add one of my bank accounts I noticed it was listed among the 10 on banks in the select dialog, but greyed out, showing "institution not supported" on hover. CapitalOne 360, Fidelity, and charlesschwab all appear this way for me. Does this mean they'll be available in the future?

Hope that helps with any troubleshooting.

Intriguing font choice and design! I like it. Unfortunately I'm hesitant on giving my bank credentials.

Big banks should step up and offer APIs via OAuth or the likes

I agree. But probably banks will never get into that business. Meanwhile some companies, like the one I am using for this service, are helping the banks to get this functionality. You should check them: http://www.plaid.com.

Is support limited to the 7 banks on that screen? Couldn't find an "Other" option.

Yes, sorry about this. Currently it just works with the 7 main banks in the United States.

US only?

Yes, sorry about that.

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