Manual Downloading vs. Automatic Downloading

[mintlover]

I know that one of the linchpins of Mint is that you connect to accounts and download their statements automatically. I'm wondering if automation is really such a key feature of users. Is the process of logging into your bank and downloading the statement then uploading it into Mint that big of a deal? Are people really that lazy? If Mint had all of the other features but you had to upload your data manually would people not go through those steps? I'm really interested to know how other users feel about manual vs. automatic account updates.

[hpbrad]

in one word. YES.

I, for one, AM that lazy... quicken/money are a P.I.T.A. (you figure it out) ... the ability to click a button and have my info downloaded is paramount here... I'm sure a lot of people have like one or two banks, making downloading less of a chore, but I, for one, have accounts at no less than 10 financial institutions (i might be pushing 20 in the near future)... manual downloading all this info is out of the question.

don't take the rant personally, I just want the folks at Mint to know that this is a crucial feature and to consider what may (or may not) be the long tail here... (though i have a suspicion that I'm not alone). ;)

[mintlover]

Interesting. Since Mint uses Yodlee as their account aggregation provider and anyone can contract with Yodlee I think Mint is going to have to innovate on the feature front... quickly.

[mintfeedback]

I'm one of those people who doesn't have a choice to be lazy on this issue. My banking institution charges a fee to automatic download so I would LOVE to see a option for people to manually upload their information if they so choose to.

At this time, choosing Mint over my banking institution is not an option. I will look for an alternative PFM program to Mint until this is resolved.

[mattemeterio]

I'm one of those people who doesn't have a choice to be lazy on this issue. My banking institution charges a fee to automatic download so I would LOVE to see a option for people to manually upload their information if they so choose to.

At this time, choosing Mint over my banking institution is not an option. I will look for an alternative PFM program to Mint until this is resolved.

I have the same problem, except I can't get Mint to auto-download it for technical reasons. If there was an alternative where you could manually download the excel sheet, and then upload it to Mint and have Mint do the parsing etc., that would solve all of my current problems.

[Curule]

I have the same problem, except I can't get Mint to auto-download it for technical reasons. If there was an alternative where you could manually download the excel sheet, and then upload it to Mint and have Mint do the parsing etc., that would solve all of my current problems.

That about sums up my problem, actually that's the sole reason I found this post, looking to see if it was possible to upload my data "manually", since until they figure out why my bank won't work, that would help. Although I definately like being able to have it automatically download the other accounts I have.

[callsk]

Hi
Is it possible for us to download all the transactions to EXCEL or to any financial software? Thanks.

[k2merlinsix]

Mint really needs to add the ability to upload accounts. The number of people begging Mint to add their bank is awful. Mint has a lot of great features but other sites are stealing traffic away.

I myself am using 2 other sites with hopes that Mint will 1. add my bank or 2. implement manual account adding.

My primary one that I am using is Wesabe and the main reasons are
1. They offer automatic uploads (for those lazy ones)
2. Browser recorded automatic uploads (for those lazy ones that their banks is not supported)
3. Manual uploads (for those accounts that have special steps such as dynamic generated code steps ..etc)

They dont have the pretty graphs that mint has but I have sacrificed the graphs for something that I can actually use.

[jokester1365]

I know that one of the linchpins of Mint is that you connect to accounts and download their statements automatically. I'm wondering if automation is really such a key feature of users. Is the process of logging into your bank and downloading the statement then uploading it into Mint that big of a deal? Are people really that lazy? If Mint had all of the other features but you had to upload your data manually would people not go through those steps? I'm really interested to know how other users feel about manual vs. automatic account updates.
What you are describing is already available with Wesabe.

[eric1985]

I tried Wesabe for about 10 minutes. That was a pain in the tush, and why I stuck with Mint.

[dbirchmier]

I just got done writing a detailed topic on Manual statement upload functionality:
http://forums.mint.com/showthread.php?p=37112

Please reply in that topic if you too wish the feature would be added!!