Money Dashboard

[lizzydripin]

Hi,
Has anyone tried money dashboard for managing their spending?
Thanks
Lizzy

[RececaDron]

Donning my risk manager's hat, my view is that account aggregation services that require you to hand over your UK banking login details to a 3rd party (in order for the aggregation to be performed) are not a sensible option. And being "not sensible" completely rules them out, no ifs no buts.

It's a shame, because they'd be highly convenient for me.

But avoidable tail risks that breach account Ts&Cs and could consequently lead to large unprotected losses - however low the likelihood of this - are not something I'd ever entertain.

[melonfool]

I think with Open Banking now, all those Ts and Cs will be changing as banks are enforced to allow sharing of data with a variety of apps etc.

So, using things where accounts are amalgamated will be The Thing soon.

I used to do it years ago with Egg and loved it, but they got in trouble for encouraging password sharing, that won't be an issue any longer.

https://debtcamel.co.uk/open-banking/

Mel

[Stonge]

Easier to follow the principles espoused by Mr Money Mustache:

http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2013/02/ ... blog-post/

[Urbandreamer]

Donning my risk manager's hat, my view is that account aggregation services that require you to hand over your UK banking login details to a 3rd party (in order for the aggregation to be performed) are not a sensible option. And being "not sensible" completely rules them out, no ifs no buts.

It's a shame, because they'd be highly convenient for me.

I know nothing about Money Dashboard, but as I understand it you grant different 3'ed parties, different rights.

For example granting an alternative credit scoring company than equifax the right to SEE what you spend and save outside of credit cards could increase the "credit" rating that you are attributed with.

Meanwhile other companies may offer automatic saving facilities, but to do so they obviously need the right to take money from your account in order to place it into a savings account for you.

Aggrigating account information probably is less risky than granting the ability to move money.

FWIW, the broker A J Bell is also offering a "money dashboard" called Mywealth, here is a exlpanitory article from them.
https://www.youinvest.co.uk/sharesmagaz ... -one-place

While I have an account with them I find it unlikely that I shall take advantage of the new service, because I'm stuck in my ways.

[melonfool]

Well, I look forward to it - it currently takes me an hour or so to update my spreadsheet every two months or so and this would mean it would take far less time.

I could probably do it more quickly but my equities ISA downloads all the stocks in alphabetical order and on my ss they are listed in the order in which I purchased them, split into types (so, an area for ITs, an area for ETFs, an area for general shares and an area for HYP shares) so it means there's quite a lot of tooing and froing to get it all lined up. That bit won't change but it will mean I can have all my cash accounts showing on one page as well and maybe download the whole lot!

Mel

[RececaDron]

Very interesting Mel! This initiative had somehow passed me by.

I've had a good delve into Open Banking this morning and will keep an eye on developments.

[neversay]

I use Moneyhub successfully. It costs £10 a year but saves me hours of messing with spreadsheets and I get quick notifications of transactions to keep an eye out for fraud. All the providers use Yodlee as the back end and use bank-level encryption, https etc. Most of my accounts have read-only log-in information and to do any transfers out requires a multi-factor token to be generated. I also use multi-factor authentication on all accounts. Worth the tail-risk imho.

[genou]

I could probably do it more quickly but my equities ISA downloads all the stocks in alphabetical order and on my ss they are listed in the order in which I purchased them, split into types (so, an area for ITs, an area for ETFs, an area for general shares and an area for HYP shares) so it means there's quite a lot of tooing and froing to get it all lined up.

Mel

I don't know the fine detail of what you doing, but have you thought about VLOOKUP ? I download info to one sheet and then pull that info into other sheets using Vlookup, precisely to avoid manual faffing.

[melonfool]

I could probably do it more quickly but my equities ISA downloads all the stocks in alphabetical order and on my ss they are listed in the order in which I purchased them, split into types (so, an area for ITs, an area for ETFs, an area for general shares and an area for HYP shares) so it means there's quite a lot of tooing and froing to get it all lined up.

Mel

I don't know the fine detail of what you doing, but have you thought about VLOOKUP ? I download info to one sheet and then pull that info into other sheets using Vlookup, precisely to avoid manual faffing.

Thank you - my Excel skills don't extend to that and I also don't really want the two sheets linked together/dependent on each other.

ta

Mel

[Slarti]

Well, I look forward to it - it currently takes me an hour or so to update my spreadsheet every two months or so and this would mean it would take far less time.

I could probably do it more quickly but my equities ISA downloads all the stocks in alphabetical order and on my ss they are listed in the order in which I purchased them, split into types (so, an area for ITs, an area for ETFs, an area for general shares and an area for HYP shares) so it means there's quite a lot of tooing and froing to get it all lined up. That bit won't change but it will mean I can have all my cash accounts showing on one page as well and maybe download the whole lot!

Mel

On your ss, in a column to the right, enter sequential numbers from the 1st holding to the last.

When you download from your ISA insert a column to the left of A and in there enter the relevant number form your ss.
Sort by A.

Should save time.
Slarti

[RececaDron]

I asked Money Dashboard about their adoption of Open Banking APIs (instead of their current reliance on a user handing over their banking login credentials, Yodlee, etc). Here's the reply:

Open Banking has resulted in various challenges not only for us but for all industry and regulator. We will not support Open Banking APIs until we can guarantee that they are tested, secure and functioning well. Once Open Banking is released on the system our account log in page will fundamentally change and all additional information will be provided on the site.

As per PSD2 rules that came into force 13th of Jan, 2018 'credential sharing' log in the method has been approved by the government, EU and financial UK regulator. Only a few banks currently release their Open API for two reasons: they do not really want to share the info as they scared to lose a customer and they have not developed the stable system. Regulator has given additional time for many banks and they might be dragging this for a while. Unfortunately, we will not be able to update you on the Open APIs, but once we support them we will make sure that we cover all major banks and that the systems are secure and tested.

Being a prudent type, despite PSD2 & T&Cs amendments providing a degree of @rse covering, I still will not be handing over my login credentials to any 3rd parties. No cigar.

However, when my banks make available Open Banking API access, I will definitely be looking at aggregation services afresh, as they'll be useful tools for me and the downside will likely be acceptable.

[Slarti]

However, when my banks make available Open Banking API access, I will definitely be looking at aggregation services afresh, as they'll be useful tools for me and the downside will likely be acceptable.

I for one will not be getting involved with open API access to my accounts for at least 2 years after they become available as they increase the attack vector against my accounts by at least double the current risk.

At the moment all I have to worry about is the security of the bank, but with the Open API system you have to worry about the security of a number of pop up organisations and I bet at least one of them will turn out to either be crooked or incompetent.

To me it is a disaster waiting to happen.

Slarti

[RececaDron]

I for one will not be getting involved with open API access to my accounts for at least 2 years after they become available as they increase the attack vector against my accounts by at least double the current risk.

At the moment all I have to worry about is the security of the bank, but with the Open API system you have to worry about the security of a number of pop up organisations and I bet at least one of them will turn out to either be crooked or incompetent.
Slarti

I'll probably take a similar approach, and consider very carefully the nature of any services I do end up consider using.

One key concern I have is of the attractiveness to hackers of an account aggregator's database.

Like many people, particularly investors, I make use of a range of financial services firms. Each of them can see a piece of my financial affairs, but only I (and the Govt if they're clued up) can see the full picture. If any of these individual firms' security is breached, only some of my details leak, and the harm to me is limited compared to the harm I might suffer if all my details leaked.

Knowingly creating a single point of failure is not a smart move, unless the rewards for doing so considerably outweigh the risks and potential costs. Of course, many people won't view it this way and will trade a lot of privacy (and consequential risks arising from this) in return for a little bit of convenience.