Great alternative to Quicken IF you use a MAC

I have been using Bankitivty for the last six weeks. Prior to that I used Quicken in most of its permutations since 1984 (DOS). Each year Intuit cam e up with some reason why you should purchase a new program. Even with an installed base of over 1 million users, Intuit threw Quicken into the wind. I have no doubt that the new ownership means well in spite of their subsc ription model. I put up with placeholder entries, bugs abounding in each v ersion after each version. I stumbled on Banktivity in desperation.

I will agree there is a learning curve but Banktivity, if you use a MAC, is really the ONLY way to go. They have 24 x 7 customer service; online chat s and personal email responses to your issues. The program costs about $60

-70 period. If they come out with a new version, maybe you will buy it may be you won't. They also offer bank statement and credit card downloads for either free (assuming your bank provides OFX) or through Direct Access whi ch costs $44-50 a year. The list of banks and credit card companies is in excess of 15,000 institutions. I live in PA with a small community bank an d a super regional. Both are represented in their Direct Access service. Virtually all brokerage firms and the US Treasury.

There are little things you may have to tweak as they do not sell check sto ck, envelopes, stamps or anything else; just their software.

Remember PC users, Macs can run Microsoft's operating systems if you partit ion your hard drive. Yes, Mac's cost more but are more secure and much mor e user friendly.

In summary, if you want a solid product, try Banktivity.

Reply to
pncboy85
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itivty for the last six weeks. Prior to that I used Quic ken in most of its permutations since 1984 (DOS). Each y ear Intuit came up with some reason why you should purcha se a new program. Even with an installed base of over 1 million users, Intuit threw Quicken into the wind. I hav e no doubt that the new ownership means well in spite of their subscription model. I put up with placeholder entr ies, bugs abounding in each version after each version. I stumbled on Banktivity in desperation.

e there is a learning curve but Banktivity, if you use a MAC, is really the ONLY way to go. They have 24 x 7 cust omer service; online chats and personal email responses t o your issues. The program costs about $60-70 period. I f they come out with a new version, maybe you will buy it maybe you won't. They also offer bank statement and cre dit card downloads for either free (assuming your bank pr ovides OFX) or through Direct Access which costs $44-50 a year. The list of banks and credit card companies is in excess of 15,000 institutions. I live in PA with a smal l community bank and a super regional. Both are represen ted in their Direct Access service. Virtually all broker age firms and the US Treasury.

gs you may have to tweak as they do not sell check stock, envelopes, stamps or anything else; just their software.

ng systems if you partition your hard drive. Yes, Mac's cost more but are more secure and much more user friendly .

ivity.

I never heard of it, so let me ask some quest ions.

Does it do online updating?

Does it update Se curity holdings values?

Does it provide for online pay ments?

If you do an online payment to an individual or a small company, does it provide for mailing a check?

If you use Windows rather than a Macintosh, can you us e it? Does it work as well?

Reply to
Ken Blake

To the OP:

I must say, your post reads like a marketing pitch from the publisher of this software. To be honest, I hope that you are in fact a tub-thumper from the publisher. Then maybe you could point me to a list of financial institutions that allow one-click download of transactions into this program. Like Quicken does.

Any competitor to Quicken is going to have to face the fact that Q has built up relationships with tons of financial institutions. This is not an accomplishment that can be duplicated in a month or two.

From the web page

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I see that some downloads require an annual payment. I don't consider this to be a show-stopper because I understand that someone has to pay the cost of storing and shipping the data. But I would like to know how this works. What intermediaries get access to my financial data if I subscribe to this service?

If this is your project, I wish you luck. Competition is a good thing so go ahead and give Quicken a poke.

Reply to
David Arnstein

Mr. Ken:

Yes, it does online updating for free if your institution provides ofx file downloads. Yes it provides security holdings valuations Yes it provides for online payments IF you have a bank that provides for th at (offers CheckFree back room processing) and in SOME cases, if you pay fo r Direct Access. Yes, this is an extra charge for the online service appro ximating $45 a year but it provides service to 15,000 institutions. I bank with PNC out of Pittsburgh and two smaller banks located in PA. I also us e the US Treasury for some things. ALL are available through the Direct Ac cess feature. You can, however print checks through Banktivity just like Q uicken. I just paid a guy who shoveled my driveway through the software wi th our any problem. If the Payee has a mailing address, you can issue them a check. But, like Quicken, if you try to renew a magazine subscription o r something that is difficult to define in the available fields, printing a check will guarantee accuracy. No, it only works with Mac OS.

Reply to
pncboy85

So Mr. Arnstein,

let me straighten you out on a few issues:

First, I have used and paid for Quicken since 1984. Since that time I have seen the product spiral downhill in quality and customer support. The new owners are probably very good and may be on a path to success but their su bscription model limiting access to one's data and the ability to use it on the same platform that one paid for doesn't seem right. I have no relatio nship with Banktivity other than I paid for the program, which is once and done until a new version is offered and purchased. I understand that some folks are using older versions of programs. However, if there is no need t o update the program imposed by Operating System changes (like going from O S 9 to OS 11) then you can continue to use the program without an annual su bscription. AS I SAID BEFORE THIS IS A MAC ONLY PROGRAM. With respect to one of your other comments, yes, there is an annual fee to use "Direct Access" to the Banks, brokers etc IF you require online check p ayment and IF your institution does NOT offer OFX downloads.

Banktivity has been around for approximately 15 years. I have been using it for a couple of months. I am NOT an expert but I do tend to use all the bells and whistles. I have a current question into their support team to address the proper way to input and track TIPS from the Treasury. I could have gotten an immediate response by using their chat service but I prefer the email approach which takes a little longer over the weekend.

IF one uses a MAC, one can due a file transfer thus facilitating records be ing transferred into Banktivity. I don't know about you but I tried transf erring from Quicken to Quicken for Mac about 10 years ago and it was a disa ster. Quicken, after I paid for a customer support phone call,, advised me I had to send them my 30 years of investment data on a CD and let them tra nsfer the file for a fee of $150. This fee was above the cost of the progr am, the customer service fee etc. The information, which i believe to be h ighly personal, was not something that i wanted to share with them. So, I didn't do it; I bought a PC and went back to using Quicken. I switched bac k to a Mac as soon as they started using Intel chips, after Power PC was el iminated and then was able to partition my drive into a PC/MAC drive giving me the flexibility to use both PC and Mac software on different partitions but the same computer.

Finally, I don't particularly care if anyone of you in this group uses Bank tivity. I just wish someone had told me about it a few years ago, saving m e the frustration incurred by using Quicken.

In summation, I wish you and anyone else that likes Quicken well. I am happ y with Banktivity so far, I hope it will continue and if it doesn't, you ca n be assured that I will come back here an confess my foolish ways.

Be well

Reply to
pncboy85

So Mr. Arnstein,

let me straighten you out on a few issues:

First, I have used and paid for Quicken since 1984. Since that time I have seen the product spiral downhill in quality and customer support. The new owners are probably very good and may be on a path to success but their su bscription model limiting access to one's data and the ability to use it on the same platform that one paid for doesn't seem right. I have no relatio nship with Banktivity other than I paid for the program, which is once and done until a new version is offered and purchased. I understand that some folks are using older versions of programs. However, if there is no need t o update the program imposed by Operating System changes (like going from O S 9 to OS 11) then you can continue to use the program without an annual su bscription. AS I SAID BEFORE THIS IS A MAC ONLY PROGRAM. With respect to one of your other comments, yes, there is an annual fee to use "Direct Access" to the Banks, brokers etc IF you require online check p ayment and IF your institution does NOT offer OFX downloads.

Banktivity has been around for approximately 15 years. I have been using it for a couple of months. I am NOT an expert but I do tend to use all the bells and whistles. I have a current question into their support team to address the proper way to input and track TIPS from the Treasury. I could have gotten an immediate response by using their chat service but I prefer the email approach which takes a little longer over the weekend.

IF one uses a MAC, one can due a file transfer thus facilitating records be ing transferred into Banktivity. I don't know about you but I tried transf erring from Quicken to Quicken for Mac about 10 years ago and it was a disa ster. Quicken, after I paid for a customer support phone call,, advised me I had to send them my 30 years of investment data on a CD and let them tra nsfer the file for a fee of $150. This fee was above the cost of the progr am, the customer service fee etc. The information, which i believe to be h ighly personal, was not something that i wanted to share with them. So, I didn't do it; I bought a PC and went back to using Quicken. I switched bac k to a Mac as soon as they started using Intel chips, after Power PC was el iminated and then was able to partition my drive into a PC/MAC drive giving me the flexibility to use both PC and Mac software on different partitions but the same computer.

Finally, I don't particularly care if anyone of you in this group uses Bank tivity. I just wish someone had told me about it a few years ago, saving m e the frustration incurred by using Quicken.

In summation, I wish you and anyone else that likes Quicken well. I am happ y with Banktivity so far, I hope it will continue and if it doesn't, you ca n be assured that I will come back here an confess my foolish ways.

Be well

d Quicken in most of its permutations since 1984 (DOS). Each year Intuit c ame up with some reason why you should purchase a new program. Even with a n installed base of over 1 million users, Intuit threw Quicken into the win d. I have no doubt that the new ownership means well in spite of their sub scription model. I put up with placeholder entries, bugs abounding in each version after each version. I stumbled on Banktivity in desperation.

is really the ONLY way to go. They have 24 x 7 customer service; online ch ats and personal email responses to your issues. The program costs about $

60-70 period. If they come out with a new version, maybe you will buy it m aybe you won't. They also offer bank statement and credit card downloads f or either free (assuming your bank provides OFX) or through Direct Access w hich costs $44-50 a year. The list of banks and credit card companies is i n excess of 15,000 institutions. I live in PA with a small community bank and a super regional. Both are represented in their Direct Access service. Virtually all brokerage firms and the US Treasury.

tock, envelopes, stamps or anything else; just their software.

ition your hard drive. Yes, Mac's cost more but are more secure and much m ore user friendly.

Reply to
pncboy85

" ... their subscription model limiting access to one's data and the ability to use it on the same platform that one paid for doesn't seem right".

Trouble is, your statement is false, so it provides no reason to discontinue using Quicken.

Other than users of the Quicken "Starter Edition" (a very cheap version offered as a "see if you like it" experience) no one loses any access to their data if/when they let their subscription lapse.

And Starter Edition users can upgrade at the end of their subscription, which will maintain their access to their data ... even if they later let the subscription lapse on their upgraded version.

Preventing access to data for lapsed subscriptions was contemplated for a very short time by Quicken, but it was NOT implemented.

Reply to
John Pollard

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