January 26, 2016  |     |    414 Comments

The first product to be released with an “i” name was the iMac, 18 years ago. For many it marks a turning point for Apple. While it didn’t happen overnight, it marked the beginning of a long run of “i” names in Apple’s product line. Remember iDVD and iPhoto? And of course the iPod, iBooks and iWork? While there are a few Apple products still embracing the iNames (iPhone and iPad come to mind), the nomenclature had its run and, quite frankly, is feeling old.

iBank was first released 13 years ago and, at the time, the name “iBank” was perfect. But over the last few years a couple things have nagged at us. First, iApp names have felt dated and too tied to Apple. Second, we were never able to secure the iBank dot com domain. Third, the word “iBank” is used internationally to describe a type of money transfer, e.g. “you can just iBank me that payment”. And fourth, “iBank” is sometimes used as an abbreviation for investment bank. This all builds up to a steep hill to climb to truly own the name of our products.

So today we are announcing the end of the iBank name and the beginning of our new name for our apps: Banktivity. If you are scratching your head wondering how this name came about, it’s rather simple. It has the same core, “bank”, which we love and then it comes from joining “bank” and “activity” — Banktivity. Yeah, say it out loud, it’s OK. It’s hard to get used to a new name, it might feel foreign, that is all very normal. But say it a few more times and let it sink in, and before you know it, it will become second nature.

 

Banktivity

(You can say it again out loud.)

 

 

From this point going forward, new releases of our apps will use the name Banktivity. We are keeping the version numbers the same to help with any potential confusion. Specifically, our apps will be renamed the following:

iBank 5 for Mac -> Banktivity 5 for Mac

iBank for iPhone -> Banktivity for iPhone

iBank for iPad -> Banktivity for iPad

iBank Investor -> Banktivity Investor

This is a big change: we expect these names to carry us far into the future and hopefully we won’t ever feel the need to change them again. You will begin seeing these new names roll out in our products over the next two days.

Before I go, I want to be clear about something. This name change in no way signals some other cultural shift at IGG. We are still producing the same great apps, with the same dedicated team working hard to bring you the best personal finance software for Mac and iOS.

Here’s to 12 great years served by iBank and to an even brighter future for Banktivity!

-Ian

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414 comments on “Banktivity is the new iBank”

  • I dont care what you call it. I am a new user I would like to be able to talk to a live person. I have lots os little issues . I was a quicken user for 20 years , till the new updates made it impossible to use. I still have issues with my down loads and have to redo some accounts every day.

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    • (Unsolicited testimonial!) i switched from Quicken a few years ago due to its refusal to be compatible with my mac…and i LOVE it! it is actually a lot easier and more intuitive than Quicken ever was! Be patient! it is great!

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    • Ian, I don’t care what you call it. How about adding some useful features? You solicit suggestions for improvements but there’s no follow through.

      I was told long ago that the capacity to compare year-to year data was one of the most frequent requests and would be made available. Customer service says they have no info on when improvements will be made.

      A huge drawback of iBank is that you can’t quickly compare year-to-year data. I’m sure many users would like to compare current Year to Date income, for example, with last year’s Year to Date income. This is important for budgeting, tax planning, etc.

      You provide so many less important reports with fancy graphics. When will you make the year-to-year comparisons readily available?

      I switched from Quicken and a number of shortcuts are missing.

      How about making some minor changes that will enhance the user experience?

      I started out with high hopes and am quite disappointed.

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  • Bankitivity shall it be from now on! I have been using your apps for quite a time now and I look forward to better features to go with Banktivity! Soar high IGG and make us, your customers, happier.

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  • Just som observations from an old user. The decisions to change the name are all logical and important, The new name is good in the sense that searches will always end up with the correct result because of the uniqueness of the work. I sure do miss the old word though.

    My update experience was slightly rocky but worked in the end. First info I had was when asked if I wanted to update iBank and go Banktivity instead so I was totally unaware of the change. Next, The process unexpectedly took a very long time, probably half hour or so, I assume because everyone was updating at once. Next, I unexpectedly had to place the file on my Mac. and change the Dock icons. Next, the order of my accounts was changed and some hidden accounts were unhidden, unexpected but easily fixed. Next all of the column sorting was changed, unexpected but easily fixed. Finally, some reconciled months were altered, again unexpected but i had to re-reconcile about 15 months. Now all is well again.

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  • Rather than focussing on the app _name_, I’d rather see some issues fixed and app improvements. For example, why can’t users edit erroneous security prices? This has been a problem for years and there’s been no movement to fix this.

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    • What are you talking about? I edit security prices all the time. The real problem is that iBank/Banktivity can’t properly import option data so one has to go through and manually enter all that data – despite the fact they advertised automatic import as a feature.

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    • I had this issue as well. After you install Banktivity, you need to open Banktivity, not iBank. At least for me, Banktivity did not replace iBank on my machine, and I’m wondering if I can just delete iBank now that Banktivity is installed and running. Company has not made this clear (as far as I can tell, they have not said anything about this).

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    • Hey.. I had the same problem too. Delete the old iBank icon and use the new Banktivity icon. It will open the 5.6.5 version

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  • I’m still learning after a year of use for very complicated financial circumstances. The biggest downside, so far, is formatting reports. The formatting is inflexible, need to be able to print vertically, with different size fonts, and to break pages in places that work. Hard to see total because no space after categories, etc. STILL don’t understand exactly how to set up reports; the first box asks which categories and accounts, and the second box asks with accounts. Isn’t that repetitive? Both my husband and I are confused by this. Thanks for listening.

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    • Absolutely agree. I have kept Quicken on my machines for years, just to use for reports at tax time. Excel comes in hand for the same purposes. As with all software, there are other minor quibbles, but this one is persistent, annoying, and omnipresent.

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  • Makes me wonder if the rumored bank from Apple will be called iBank since Apple Bank already exists (or if they will possibly acquire Apple Bank)… Hmm… I am not really a fan of the name Banktivity but am mostly happy with the software as an alternative to Quicken for Mac users.

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  • I had à similar experience to Gerald. When I opened my accounts in the new iMac app, some of the accounts didn’t show the most recent entries from my iPad. At first I thought it was a synch problem, but after 30 mins of synch troubleshooting, I discovered the the sort order of data in some accounts was set on some colouring other than ‘date’. Clicking the Date column restored the data. The strange thing is that only 2 out of about 12 accounts were affected.

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  • The name is not important to me. I am trying to use this bank program but am having many problems and can’t find help nor instructions from your company. All I see from your “Help” program is advertisement. There are no help resources available to new users.
    How does a new user get instruction and tutorial information ?

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  • We are very happy with the bank software from IGG. Most upgrades have gone very well, pretty much seamless. Can’t honestly tell you that the new name does the product justice, I think I would have spent some money with a decent advertising firm before I settled on Banktivity……. it does not instil confidence.

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  • Glad to finally receive today an announcement of your name change. I am all for rebranding.

    But it wasn’t fun to be made aware of a new update yesterday, and it won’t work after several tries. Then I see the little blurb in the window stating the name change.

    Well, please just provide easy instructions how to update/switch the software without your consumers (me, all of us) having to open up a manual or waste my time watching a video (which I detest). A few simple sentences or list of steps would suffice.

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  • Nice new name and well done. Had been a MS User since 1991, then Quicken User for 10 year and then iBank user, which seems to be the best….but I really do have one wish: can you open the automatic updating of share prices to other sources than Yahoo Finance?
    Yahoo Finance might be good enough for Americans, but for the rest of us 95% of the world population, a lot of investments (shares, funds, etc.) are not captured by Yahoo Finance.
    While you do that, can you introduce also the use of the ISIN code to find the instrument? These are uniquely identifiable and used by most banks. Many thanks and all the best for the future.

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  • I just installed Banktivity, but my old iBank icon (and presumably app) is still in the applications folder on my Macbook Pro. What is the safest way to remove the previous version with the older name? (Waiting for chat is unthinkable right now, and there appears to be no way to email you.)

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  • Only problem I ran into in updating to Banktivity 5.6.5 was the name change itself. That is, after I checked your website to make sure I hadn’t been scammed, it left the old iBank.app on my iMac. On opening the iBank icon in my dashboard, the old .app opened. Once I removed the old iBank.app, and replaced the icon in the dashboard, all worked fine.

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  • Like other newbies, I don’t care about the name.

    I *do* care that I’ve been unable to get PayPal downloads through Direct Access despite sending in two trouble tickets (neither answered) and one online chat (where she apparently submitted a trouble ticket).

    At the moment, I’m #10 (30 minute estimated wait) for an online representative (I will ask the same question that I asked last week, namely, “Please help me get direct access downloads from my PayPal account” and I will again tell them that I receive error #414.

    Sigh…

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  • I am a new iBank user and am basically pleased with the program. I am with David though, the new name — Banktivity – does not sound right. When I was looking for a new financial program (Quicken for Mac has become totally unusable), I felt confident that iBank would be a good program. Had I found “Banktivity” first, I might have overlooked altogether. But now that I have used the software for a month or so, I will stay with it even though the new name sounds silly to me. Like others have written, I do have a problem with the reports and with updating investments. Hopefully, these will be addressed in future updates.

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  • I notice the data file for Banktivity is still labeled data.ibank. Will this change to data.banktivity in the future?

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  • I don’t think anybody is happy with anything nowadays, people will argue with their shadow, its just a program people, does what its supposed to do very well, so what does it matter what the name is…

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  • It still stinks you can’t uncheck multiple line items at once when reconciling the account. I have to go through and uncheck each individual item, unless there is some secret way to do this I don’t know about? Also, I need to be able to view only unreconciled transactions! For God’s sake, plesae make a view for this?

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    • David and Joseph, iBank/Banktivity ALREADY HAS a very effective equivalent of a “clear all” button during its excellent reconciliation process. Just use the minus button in the reconciliation window to delete the “selected statement” you’re working on, and—hey presto!—every line is unchecked, and you can start again by using the plus button to add a new statement.

      David asks for a way to view only unreconciled transactions. iBank/Banktivity has that too! That’s exactly what you see in a new “selected statement” when reconciling. This is fully and clearly explained under the iBank/Banktivity help topic, “Statements and Reconciling”.

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  • I have something called “Bankivity 6” in my menu bar now. Bankivity 5 is in my applications folder. What to do?? Is crashing a lot. They both say they are version 5.6.5 No ichat to help.

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  • Ian, Like the new name, love the s/ware. But still need a one-button year-end close-out. Quicken, an awful program for Mac by comparison, has had this for DECADES. I’ve been told its on your short list of new features to implement – any idea about a timeline? (I just manually stuttered a year-end close out, so I guess you have another 11 months to get around to it….)

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  • Disappointed with the process to upgrade. I downloaded Banktivity, ran it, all appeared to have my data.
    Removed iBank using Appcleaner. Opened Banktivity, and everything had gone – it was like a new app. Even putting everything back from my trash didn’t fix it.
    So it appears there are still remnants of iBank across my system, and I had to set Banktivity up again.
    A simple how to would have been useful. I’ve now read the 160+ comments and wouldn’t have done the same, but a user shouldn’t have to do that.

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  • I, too, am a Quicken refugee. I am frustrated by the very poor support offered by IGG, but generally like the product. The name is unimportant to me. What is important is the fact that for the last 2 years and 2 months, I have been trying to get iBank5 to download transactions from my primary bank, a task which iBank4 does handily. I have had countless interactions with support staff via email, and as of today, have still not been able to upgrade to iBank5, and consequently can’t upgrade my OS to Yosemite or El Capitan. I don’t care what you call the program, but I do care that the support is seriously lacking and that no one has been able to help me.

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  • There are some small changes I would love to see in this program such as being able to type in “a” and ALL categories come up with an “a” in it. Also, please do not assume that just because the same payee is coming up that the category is the same. One more thing, when things have cleared and I have already keyed it in please do not bring back the cleared item again. This is especially true for my paycheck that has many categories. To have to key these all in on the “cleared” item is annoying while I have the paycheck already in my “Scheduled Payments”,

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  • Banktivity? Surely IGG Software is kidding. So you’re throwing away all your work of many years to establish market recognition of the product name, iBank. I see the reasons given for the change, but in my opinion they are insignificant compared to the downside. The name iBank may not be perfect, but has numerous virtues apart from being established in the market. The initial lower-case “i”, cited as one of the reasons for change, actually denotes a major benefit of your product: a very high level of compliance and integration with the Mac OS (and iOS).
    The name change is a mistake. It won’t change my decision to keep on using iBank, or whatever you decide to call it, but it will confuse and complicate decision-making for new or returning customers. The name change would reasonably signal to many people a break in product continuity. A break in product continuity in a field such as personal finance recordkeeping, where continuity is a major priority, is a major problem.

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    • I disagree. I never liked iBank and think the name should have changed long ago. It is not the name of software that I want to trust years and years of financial data to. Neither is Banktivity (nor Quicken), but it’s a giant leap in the right direction.

      Second, I disagree with your premise that it will confuse new or returning customers or that is will signal a break in continuity. New customers are just that, and who returns to using financial software after having left? Frankly, Banktivity could desperately use a break in continuity. The software is nowhere near where it needs to be and the software development is slower than a snail. Perhaps now that the name change is settled they can move on to the very long “to do” list.

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      • Paul, I agree with you to a limited extent about the product name. Any name including “bank” doesn’t suggest “full featured personal financial accounting” (which is what iBank/Banktivity is, par excellence): it suggests “checking account register”. But in marketing brand continuity can be more important than whether a brand name actually literally states what the product is about. Consider, for instance, the literal meanings—yet continuity—of the brand and product names, Apple, and Mac…

        Plain facts totally disprove your assertions that “the software is nowhere near where it needs to be and the software development is slower than a snail”. Firstly, the features of iBank/Banktivity which it has and other software lacks make it best in its class—so you cannot reasonably say it is “nowhere near where it needs to be”. Just list and compare features. Secondly, IGG Software has now released 19 free updates to iBank/Banktivity over the 26-month life span of Version 5. Each of those updates—even the name change version 5.6.5—has included substantive improvements and bug fixes. This indisputable fact is proven in the version history at https://www.iggsoftware.com/banktivity/version_changes_5.html

        Nineteen updates in 26 months not only totally blows away the pace of software development by every other player in Mac personal finance—from the worthy Moneydance, SEE Finance, GnuCash and MyMoney to the abysmal Quickens for Mac—it blows away just about the entire Mac software industry. The record proves that no Mac software developer has a faster pace of software development than IGG Software.

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  • downloaded in minutes without a problem; deleted old iBank.5 app. Now Banktivity 5 pops right up, but the old file name (xxxx.iBank) remians at the top of the page. Should Banktivity 5 have automatically changed it, should I change it, or live with it

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  • I wish you’d make a Windows compatible. Some of us have to use a Windows machine for work, It would be great if I could keep my Imac, Macbook Pro and Ipad all synced with my Windows work laptop since the Ipad version isn’t nearly robust enough.

    One for Android would be nice too. I wouldn’t have to carry my Ipad with me when I;m on the road with the stupid Windows machine. We have Galaxy S5s for work. IPassword has their program running on all for OS, and that makes my live so much simpler

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  • What a relief! Thanks. My iPad still has an arrow, upper left on Overview page, with iBank inside it. Shouldn’t it read “Banktivity” instead? Is this an indication it hasn’t downloaded yet? My homepage still says “iBank”

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  • I have completed the upgrade and am still digesting all of the syllables in the new name. I have also observed one oddity … Banktivity seems to now be looking for downloaded .ofx files from my bank, not .qfx files like with iBank ??? My bank has not changed their file name standard, why has Banktivity? I had to rename my downloaded file to .ofx before I could import it today.

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  • Can’t say I’m a fan of the name, You’ve tossed a way a H.U.G.E asset with brand recognition. iBank was an excellent brand and a good name. “Banktivity” is neither clever nor attractive to the ear, I’m sorry to say.

    Meh. Whatever. Just keep improving it and I’m sure I’ll adjust.

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  • I was hoping the new name would coincide with the release of version 6 which would include more customizable reports. Otherwise, I’m still a fan!

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    • Because English is the World lingua franca (Italian)) and French is NOT much to the chagrin (French word) of French people!

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  • All updated and no problem with the name change. I love the product and am happy as long as it continues to do it’s job so well

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  • Ian, please change my present email address so I can keep receiving your blog. The present email will be deleted in 30 days.

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  • Honestly, I think many might be still use to the name iBank, and not necessarily be willing to embrace a name change. People love what they know. With this said and with all respect for those charged with coming up with the name, it not all that great. While it does indicate what the applications do, it just doesn’t sound that great.

    Also one of the concerns was that it was tied to Apple products too much, so does that mean Banktivity will be available on other platforms, maybe even on the web? Right now all the applications mentioned are Apple based products, so being tied to the Apple ecosystem is harmful?

    Unlike the above sentences may indicate, I don’t really care too much about the name change myself, probably just underwhelmed. I am just disappointed in a feature removal that was decided and implemented. Th ability to local sync is being done away with in favour of Banktivity’s own cloud sync.

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  • I agree with the very first commenter that I would like to talk to a real person about the myriad number of small issues I have. Or at least be able to email my question when it arises and get an answer. I’m impressed with the way Eventbrite uses some of their top customers as help-responders. Check them out – it’s a really effective way of providing support. Also, I agree with the comment about the reports being inflexible. I was a Quicken user for years and the reports feature plus the fact that I can’t see my budget or download it to an excel file are frustrating..

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  • I really hope the CEO will embrace the feedback provided in these posts and focus his resources to fix/repair the problems and bugs listed in these comments. I echo them and want them fixed.

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  • I am an old Quicken user who was forced to switch since their old software is no longer system compatible and their new software is just a toy. iBank has many plusses, but some big drawbacks. A few suggestions from a one-year user:

    1) Fix the reconciliation. All I really need is the dollar amount of transactions, in a list, in small enough type that a month’s transactions all fit on one screen. Skip the other information in the reconciliation screen. Then I can quickly compare the list to the statement and figure out in a minute what is missing, in there twice, or whatever. Plus it takes a long time to click off the little green checkmarks because the “automatic” function always misses a bunch of them. Half the time I end up copying amounts one by one and pasting into a spreadsheet to review because, believe it or not, that’s faster!

    2) Make reports more flexible. I’d like to be able to go to any account and copy the transactions and paste into a spreadsheet, or export them into SYLK format that I can open in Excel. And I’d like to generate Quick Reports on whatever I’m trying to figure out, e.g., all payments made to someone names “Jones” in the last 5 years. I really miss that flexibility.

    I’d be enthusiastic about purchasing other formats (iPhone, iPad, investor, etc.) if it were just a tad more flexible and easier to work with. Thanks!

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  • Hate the name – love the product. Update installed flawlessly and I was back to work within seconds. Fortunately for me, I have not experienced any of the small frustrations mentioned by other posters. I am afraid as I go forward, I will still refer to it as iBank – rolls off the toungue easier.

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    • Ditto. I had no idea that the name change had occurred. I tried to open iBank in the dock but the program crashed. My heart sank. I saw a question mark on the dock icon and went to applications. I looked for iBank but saw the Banktivity icon which is obviously the same. I poofed my old icon on the dock and replaced it with Banktivity, opened the icon and away I went. I don’t care if the app is called fudsnark. It does what I want.

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  • iBank ~ Banktivity is an OK program. It is missing many features that I really want, but given the options available I’ve decided to keep using it. (Features? Flexible reports, reconciling to share balances – not cash in investment accounts, more intelligent field completion, etc.) As for the new name, meh. My personal feeling is that it is pretty bad, but then I thought iBank was not great either. A rose is still a rose or code is still just code.

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  • Interesting but that is a really rude name for England; when you read it quickly. Terrible name for those in England, such a mouthful. We don’t talk about ibanking something. We just talk about a bank transfer…. I am not sure this will help your UK market!

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  • Downloaded new Banktivity 5 with no problems whatsoever. Used Quicken for years when I was using a PC but switched to Mac. Quicken for Mac is not the best. iBank, or I should say, Banktivity, suits my needs.

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  • How about bringing back the capability to link 1Password within the Banktivity application? Surely, you’ve had enough time to work that back into the app.

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  • Ian, in general I’m pleased with iBank aka Banktivity as a replacement for Quicken (when I switched to a Mac). However, I too would very much prefer to be able to speak with a live human being for support. In general, your chat technical assistance folks are competent and do know their stuff. However, at times the wait is too long, and, more importantly, it is objectionable that your hours are so tightly keyed to business hours on the East Coast (we do have a few folks in California as well). And there are times when it would be more efficient to speak to the support person. Like others, I’m fine with whatever you call yourself.

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