Re^2: Trying to download account balance

I am also your undying (some say undead) fan but I love automated access to my secure accounts. Until Google put the kabosh on one of my scripts by doing their login via JS I could check my whole AdSense history with stats, trends, trailing averages, and other spreadsheet-ish stuff from the command line on a whim. Now I have to login, sometimes twice because they won't allow a gmail account to have access in some places and other places they require it so I get cookie tag-teamed by them (really, really bad UI for Google and I can't believe it's still like that a year out), then either click around 4 or 5 times or download a CSV and run it through a tool or an app. Lame.

Everyone big should provide an API into their stuff. Customers are going to want it eventually and with an API the company gets to control it instead of spawning a dozen hacks to get at it.

Comment on Re^2: Trying to download account balance

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Re^3: Trying to download account balance by BrowserUk (Patriarch) on Sep 16, 2007 at 18:58 UTC
Everyone big should provide an API into their stuff... Exactly. And I wonder if the OP has actually asked his banks... Examine what is said, not who speaks -- Silence betokens consent -- Love the truth but pardon error. "Science is about questioning the status quo. Questioning authority". In the absence of evidence, opinion is indistinguishable from prejudice. "Too many [] have been sedated by an oppressive environment of political correctness and risk aversion."	[reply]
Re^4: Trying to download account balance by n8g (Sexton) on Sep 16, 2007 at 23:41 UTC
I did not ask either bank whether or not they have a public API. I have checked both of their sites and discussed with Chase's support staff which banking applications they support. About a year or so ago when they merged with Bank One I was suddenly unable to communicate with their site via MS Money. I had been using it since about 2000 with no problems. It turns out that after the merger they began supporting only MS Money 2005(maybe 2006) or greater. This took nearly an hour on the phone with their support to determine. I asked about alternative ways to connect, if they do have a public API they keep it private. I don't believe that they see a lot of value in a publicly available API. It is probably much easier to work with a few vendors (Quicken, Microsoft) than to worry about supporting a public API that only a small minority of its customers are likely to use. That being the case some people are bound to take it upon themselves to discover a solution. Here is one example. I ran across while researching a Perl solution to my problem. However I would say that even if a public API was available my choice to roll my own solution seems every bit as legitimate, although possibly waste of time. I just can't understand why this question provoked such a harsh response. I am new to this community (both Perl and Perl Monks) and decided to use this problem to learn Perl because it has the motivating factor of being something I find useful. I chose Perl partly because the community seemed friendly and willing to help one another out. In fact looking in from the outside it seems to be one of Perl's biggest strengths. I guess I expected a different welcome. In any case I realize I have wandered a bit off the original topic of the post. I will not post again to his thread unless it is in response to the original question. If the moderators feel compelled to remove it I will understand.	[reply]
Re^5: Trying to download account balance by BrowserUk (Patriarch) on Sep 17, 2007 at 11:54 UTC
I just can't understand why this question provoked such a harsh response. Maybe my response was too harsh, and if so, I apologise. However, you may like to read this(just the latest of increasingly frequent warnings) and then consider if there might not be some reason why banks tend to make their login mechanisms difficult to automate? You say that you are not a security expert. Banks generally have a bunch of skilled people working for them, and they are very conservative in the provision of external access to their systems. Ponder why they are so. You say you want to create a "family financial portal". Just be very sure in your own mind that you do not create a portal to your finances, open to a far wider audience. Examine what is said, not who speaks -- Silence betokens consent -- Love the truth but pardon error. "Science is about questioning the status quo. Questioning authority". In the absence of evidence, opinion is indistinguishable from prejudice. "Too many [] have been sedated by an oppressive environment of political correctness and risk aversion."	[reply]