How personal finance applications are synchronized with banks
Today, each person has three or four accounts in different banks. Watching each of them individually is difficult. The application for financial accounting with the function of synchronization with banks helps to simplify the task.
Synchronization of bank accounts is necessary, firstly, in order not to waste time on recording expenses, and secondly, to consolidate accounts from different banks in one place.
Many of us stop accounting for income and expenses just because they forget to put it in a notebook, file, or computer program every day. This can be very unnerving. When synchronization is connected, it becomes purely psychologically easier.
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In addition, there is time for a deeper analysis of their financial situation, conclusions and planning.
To date, there are three ways to synchronize applications with banks:
Consider each one of them.
This method of synchronization is gradually becoming obsolete. Although many users like it, because they consider it more secure than other methods.
Why the method will not be used soon?
1. Due to limitations of operating systems. In iOS, applications do not have access to SMS. The same thing will happen soon with Android. In the "Rules for Developers Center" there is a section on confidentiality, in which the ban on using SMS by applications that are not assistants or processors of messages or calls is registered in black and white.
In order not to bother with synchronization themselves, the developers of some financial accounting applications use solutions developed by third-party companies.
These services use open banking APIs. Connected applications get access to users' transaction history.
Of the applications for accounting for finance, this system is used by Wallet, Spendee, Fentury. According to users of these applications, the exchange is slow. Synchronization update with the bank takes about five minutes. First, a minute and a half is connected. Then the system asks for a password that came in the SMS. Only then does synchronization begin.
In addition to this drawback, there are three more:
Synchronization from the application works on the principle of plug-ins that are written in open API applications and use open data of Internet banks. This allows users who have professional knowledge and desire to write their own code and connect the bank before the synchronization appears in the application. This method is used in the Zen-mani application.
The main disadvantage of the method, compared with the previous one, is the speed of development. Typically, developers to synchronize choose popular among users banks. All the rest have to wait a long time or connect the SMS information.
This way is safe. All data is stored in encrypted form on the user's phone. They are transferred only to the bank. When an application is deleted, the encryption key changes or the user exits the profile, all data about the connection to the bank is automatically deleted.
Despite the security and all the conveniences that appear when you synchronize the application with the bank, most users still try to use some “manual” ways to get information from the bank. That is, download and upload a CSV file. Sometimes this is not the most pleasant thing, because errors occur.
Of the three methods, the first is most trusted, because it is the most familiar and is considered the safest after importing files. About synchronization, people know less. The technical part is difficult to understand. Until you try - it is unclear whether to rely on reliability and security.
Why do you need synchronization?
Synchronization of bank accounts is necessary, firstly, in order not to waste time on recording expenses, and secondly, to consolidate accounts from different banks in one place.
Many of us stop accounting for income and expenses just because they forget to put it in a notebook, file, or computer program every day. This can be very unnerving. When synchronization is connected, it becomes purely psychologically easier.
')
In addition, there is time for a deeper analysis of their financial situation, conclusions and planning.
Ways to synchronize with banks
To date, there are three ways to synchronize applications with banks:
- Processing SMS from banks.
- Connect to banks using third-party services.
- Synchronization using plugins from applications.
Consider each one of them.
Processing SMS from banks
This method of synchronization is gradually becoming obsolete. Although many users like it, because they consider it more secure than other methods.
Why the method will not be used soon?
1. Due to limitations of operating systems. In iOS, applications do not have access to SMS. The same thing will happen soon with Android. In the "Rules for Developers Center" there is a section on confidentiality, in which the ban on using SMS by applications that are not assistants or processors of messages or calls is registered in black and white.
Applications that cannot be assigned as an assistant or handler for SMS or default calls are not allowed to request such permissions. Including for them it is impossible to specify the corresponding tags in the manifest.2. Banks, too, have recently increasingly refused SMS and are switching to push notifications. After installing the bank application on a smartphone, it is possible to disable SMS alerts even without the user's knowledge. Push notifications can only be received by the bank application, and the application for accounting for finances may not recognize such a message.
To request the above permissions, the application must be registered as an assistant or processor of SMS or default calls. If another application is assigned as an assistant or handler for SMS or calls, you should immediately stop using these permissions. A source
Connecting to banks using third-party services
In order not to bother with synchronization themselves, the developers of some financial accounting applications use solutions developed by third-party companies.
These services use open banking APIs. Connected applications get access to users' transaction history.
Of the applications for accounting for finance, this system is used by Wallet, Spendee, Fentury. According to users of these applications, the exchange is slow. Synchronization update with the bank takes about five minutes. First, a minute and a half is connected. Then the system asks for a password that came in the SMS. Only then does synchronization begin.
In addition to this drawback, there are three more:
- You have to pay for the synchronization, and this will affect the cost of the subscription.
- It is not safe to transfer logins and passwords, because the data is transmitted to third-party servers.
- If there are errors in synchronization (and users are very unnerving), it is not known how quickly they will fix it.
Synchronization using plugins from applications
Synchronization from the application works on the principle of plug-ins that are written in open API applications and use open data of Internet banks. This allows users who have professional knowledge and desire to write their own code and connect the bank before the synchronization appears in the application. This method is used in the Zen-mani application.
The main disadvantage of the method, compared with the previous one, is the speed of development. Typically, developers to synchronize choose popular among users banks. All the rest have to wait a long time or connect the SMS information.
This way is safe. All data is stored in encrypted form on the user's phone. They are transferred only to the bank. When an application is deleted, the encryption key changes or the user exits the profile, all data about the connection to the bank is automatically deleted.
Unbelievable, but it is a fact!
Despite the security and all the conveniences that appear when you synchronize the application with the bank, most users still try to use some “manual” ways to get information from the bank. That is, download and upload a CSV file. Sometimes this is not the most pleasant thing, because errors occur.
Of the three methods, the first is most trusted, because it is the most familiar and is considered the safest after importing files. About synchronization, people know less. The technical part is difficult to understand. Until you try - it is unclear whether to rely on reliability and security.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/426929/
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