Apple Card Doesn't Support Exporting Data to Financial Apps

[KazKam]

Like many others in this thread, I use personal finance software (Banktivity in my case) and import all of my credit card activity, so at this point, this IS a deal breaker for me.

However, while reading through this thread one possibility occurred to me... what if, and that's a big WHAT IF, this is the start of an Apple-developed holistic personal finance app/service, that would replace or obfuscate the need for tools like mint/quicken/banktivity? That's an interesting proposition. Every single personal finance app and service on the market right now is lacking, in my experience.

An offering from Apple in this space would be welcome. But in the mean time, yeah, no export = deal breaker.

 

[AronDraws]

Totally a deal breaker. Good to know so I don't bother getting this card! I use Mint to oversee everything and if I can't view the data for this card in my app, there's no point in getting this card.

 

[bfutrell]

Today is the first day the card is available (to some individuals). I'm sure this feature will be added later.

Seems odd they would no have this as an integral feature on day one. The wallet app only shows transactions and it categorizes for you, no splits. Maybe Apple should have partnered with a company that knows how to do credit cards, not Goldman Sachs.

 

[2013.1]

If I’m not mistaken this is required by law in the European Union

#psd2

 

[Steve J0bs]

No tracking transactions in YNAB? That’s unfortunate. I got the card earlier, but looks like I’ll stick with CSR as daily driver.

 

[bfutrell]

"Get 3% back on everything you buy from Apple, whether you buy it at an Apple Store, apple.com, the App Store, or iTunes. That includes games, in‑app purchases, and services like your Apple Music subscription and iCloud storage plan."

This is the only reason to get the card right now.

 

[BuddyTronic]

Are you trying to tell me that someone who pays interest on a credit card also does perfect bookkeeping? I have my doubts

 

[Erehy Dobon]

.

 

[bfutrell]

Are you trying to tell me that someone who pays interest on a credit card also does perfect bookkeeping? I have my doubts

The point of the card is to make managing your finances easier. Seems illogical not to support third party apps that provide much greater detail. Especially considering macOS's history in the financial management app market. (Stern look your way Quicken.)

Apple allows third party access to health data.

 

[cadal99]

Jump on the bandwagon... deal breaker (someone can do a shot for that drinking game proposal now) to not be able to at least export .qfx etc. If there's a better place than this forum that Apple would monitor and know about consumer feedback - that'd be good to know - because I'm sure none of the moderators or general readers here give a flying fig that it's a deal breaker for me But not sure how else to give that market feedback in hopes that they'll change. Leading tech company not supporting electronic access... bizarre.... Paper only statements next?

 

[IIGS User]

This never would have happened if Steve were still alive.....

 

[coumerelli]

Sorry, That’s a straw man. Big difference between apps taking personal data and using it for their own purposes (incl to sell) and a user consciously outputting the data for another use.

Right. Which is why there are two words to describe the difference: privacy and security. Both are at issue when creating an API to provide information to a third party. My comment covered both. It didn't combine the two into one.

 

[Erehy Dobon]

.

 

[enc0re]

Wait. This is a Goldman Sachs credit card but it won't work with Goldman Sachs' Clarity Money (their Mint competitor)? Is that right?

 

[sub150]

More likely this is a privacy/security decision rather than a technical one. We've become so accustomed to allowing our data be in whosever hands asks for it, that we push back when someone doesn't allow for it. We need to recalibrate our mindset. Completely.

A csv file does not fall under your comment. A csv file is allowing the user to own their data. It's transparency and ownership, two crucial things when it comes to privacy/security/"cloud data".

If selling user data is the worst offense, the second worse offense would be not allowing a user to download their own data. Can I even save my invoices as pdf? These are pretty standard things with regards to consumer protections.

What I do with it is up to me, but for the record I just put it into an excel document that has tracked all my spending for the last 5 years. I don't care how great the company is, it can be run by Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, and Rosa Parks, if I can't download my own data that's some BS.

 

[capvideo]

“We’re introducing a credit card focused on privacy and security.”

“Awesome! This is exactly what we’ve been waiting for!”

…

“How do we export our data to third-party data miners?”

:facepalm:

 

[Porco]

It says on their support document there are statements which are PDFs, so presumably those are (or could very easily be) exportable at least? Then it would be a conversion away from exporting to *whatever else you want*. I can't believe this won't be solved pretty quickly, it does seem quite silly.

"Statements are PDFs of statements from previous months."

 

[BuddyTronic]

The point of the card is to make managing your finances easier. Seems illogical not to support third party apps that provide much greater detail. Especially considering macOS's history in the financial management app market. (Stern look your way Quicken.)

Apple allows third party access to health data.

Agreed - it would be baffling to not allow qfx and csv export. Apple should buy intuit QuickBooks and make accounting work so good, their customers can be model citizens of personal finance. Would be a dream come true - just a career lifetime too late for me to care that much about it. But yeah, traditional banks have obfuscated visa transactions for far too long. Chasing nickels is not fun

 

[azentropy]

I’ve actually dropped other cards/banks/services because they don’t or stopped supporting Mint - so no chance I’d consider the Apple Card without that support.

 

[enc0re]

I’ve actually dropped other cards/banks/services because they don’t or stopped supporting Mint - so no chance I’d consider the Apple Card without that support.

I'd consider switching from Mint, especially if Apple provided better privacy in whatever "FinanceKit" supported applications there would be. But like many adults, I need some light accounting software to keep track of my personal finances. I can't reasonably interact with every bank, credit card, 401k, IRA, mortgage, etc separately.

 

[MadCar]

If I’m not mistaken this is required by law in the European Union

#psd2

Indeed they need to provide and interface to share data if they want to interact in the EU to meet PSD2 / Open Banking regs, not sure they could launch in the EU without it.

Also is it SCA compliant etc. etc.

 

[zakarhino]

There is a difference between importing banking data into a data mining app like Mint or Personal Capital vs. exporting to a CSV/etc. Exporting to CSV should have been standard as plenty of people need to collect and process their financial information outside of simple admin management in the Wallet app.

 

[JRobinsonJr]

More likely this is a privacy/security decision rather than a technical one. We've become so accustomed to allowing our data be in whosever hands asks for it, that we push back when someone doesn't allow for it. We need to recalibrate our mindset. Completely.

Oh yeah... "So private that even I can't use it!" Nonsense (Apple.. not you). People who are the smartest with their money tend to use software like Quicken. Every single morning I pull down and process transactions. Because of that I know what I owe, what's paid, how much I've got, and what I spend it on.

I can appreciate the "we're early in this game and haven't implemented it yet" for software integration, but even the basic ability to export to CSV - or even view my account online - is not there. Imagine any other bank NOT providing simple online access. Wouldn't last.

 

[thisisnotmyname]

I hope that changes soon, that seems like a pretty big oversight in my opinion

 

[JRobinsonJr]

Apple should purchase Banktivity. It is superior in my book.

Interesting idea. I'm a Quicken fan and didn't particularly care for Banktivity in a quick review though. Doesn't mean I'm unwilling to take another look, but it would have to be fairly mindless for me to switch. I've used Quicken for 20+ years and have fully integrated how it work (including it's quirks) into my financial management approach. Still, an Apple developed solution that still integrates with other financial institutions could be a game changes.