Want to see Downloaded transactions for investment accounts in Mobile App

Kyle Hack

I would like to see downloaded transactions for investment accounts in a future app update. Does anyone else think this would be helpful?

Chris_QPW

I'm sure it would be very useful for a lot of people. I'm not sure if there is an idea already out there that can be voted on, I know someone recently mentioned it. Maybe if there is someone can find it.

I will mention that I think that it isn't an easy thing to add. Investment transactions are a lot more complicated than regular cash transactions.

Quicken Anja

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tim.rohrer1

@Chris_QPW indicated implementing "investment transactions [would be] more complicated than regular cash transactions." I believe this is only partially accurate.

I spend money each year on Quicken because the tool aggregates data and I can manage my overall financial picture. Having all accounts play nice together is a basic requirement.

I was disappointed during a recent trip where I tried to rely on mobile/web app to keep my financial tracking up-to-date. I discovered that balances of accounts went awry because I couldn't edit a transfer/category field of a downloaded transaction in my checking account to match the receiving brokerage account. IMO, this is low hanging fruit for the developers. Most brokerages (and OFX standards I believe) track cash balances; these involve simple cash transactions. Fixing this issue would at least allow users to see transfers between accounts. I realize mutual funds might be different, but in many ways they are also much easier.

As far as the level of complication to implement full investment tracking is concerned, most brokerages have done this on their websites; Seeking Alpha has done it using Plaid. We're not talking AI or machine learning level of coding.

Chris_QPW

@tim.rohrer1 Well, I believe your comment is only partially accurate too. 😉

First off, you are talking about "dipping their toes into it" instead of actually implementing complete investment accounts. I certainly think one should be able to edit the transaction in the checking account even if it is a transfer to an investment account. But once you actually start talking about transactions in the investment account, you can't stop at "cash transactions/mutual funds" because other people have different kinds of securities and transactions and if you don't cover their cases then their transactions/balances will be wrong.

The second part is about "low hanging fruit". That means different things to different people. Frankly, to me it would be something like "Change the title of this report" or "update the age in the Lifetime Planner for RMD (which they haven't yet done!)", not implementing investment transactions in mobile and web. But more to the point, you can think of it as a matrix between complexity to demand. As a software engineer, I can tell you that this isn't trivial, and so far, this idea has got 5 votes, so the demand is low. That doesn't equate to "low hanging fruit" in my book.

tim.rohrer1

I never said they should "stop at" the low hanging fruit. But they can start to implement connections between the various types of accounts to investment accounts.

I too develop code (more web apps) and have done some database work. For the company that has been writing and maintaining Quicken code for nearly 10 years, I consider what I characterized (cash transfers to/from investment accounts) as low hanger fruit just that.

Five years ago they acknowledged in a FAQ that investment transactions don't sync yet even though investment accounts reportedly do sync. Five years later and it is hard to see any progress.

Chris_QPW

When I think of your request, I think maybe it would be better requested as a separate Idea.

Actually, I think I would even call it a bug. You certainly should be able to do whatever edit you like in the checking account.

As for no progress on putting this in (the original idea), "no progress" is exactly what I would expect for a feature that they deem not worth the effort.

And that is the point. Quicken Inc is a small company with tons of requests for features/bug fixes and such. It just isn't going to get on their list to work on unless there is a whole lot more demand for it.

tim.rohrer1

I agree about it being more of a bug.

As far as "a feature that they deem not worth the effort" — if that is indeed Quicken's position — I find that short-sighted thinking. A huge percentage, if not most, younger people are relying on mobile apps. The mantra often is "mobile first," and many people want full access to their data when they are moving about.

As far as there not being a whole lot of demand for it, I have to wonder about the demographics of Quicken users. I suspect we are generally an older crowd, but obviously don't know for sure. But if I'm right, then the question is how many younger people looked at Quicken Mobile/Web and decided the lack of features made it a non-starter.

Chris_QPW

I'm speculating here, so take it as that, I believe "Simplify" is Quicken Inc's answer to "the younger generation/future". As in a totally online personal finance program. I see that they now even have a "business" version (online only), so clearly, they are pushing ahead on that score. If I'm not mistaken (haven't used it) it still only has a "simple investment mode" approach just like tons of others like the old Mint, but if they are going to put in this kind of effort to support "complete" with investment transactions that is where I would think they would put their effort. And that would be easier for them too. No "syncing to the Desktop data file".

As far as the age of the average Quicken user, I can pretty much guarantee it leans to "over the hill".