Our team has been hard at work implementing some new features and refining some existing experiences. As you will see some of these features have been requested for a while and I’m happy to deliver them. All of these features we plan on releasing in our forthcoming Banktivity 9.5. We expect to release this version by the end of this summer.
Delete Means Delete
Since we first introduced Direct Access for bank connections over a decade ago, there has been a peculiar behavior. Many of you have probably noticed it. That is, if you deleted a transaction that was recently downloaded via Direct Access, it would come back the next time you refreshed your accounts. This original implementation was by design with the thinking that the transactions from the bank are “the truth”. Now, after many years of experience managing bank connections we’ve learned about the mistakes that can sometimes make it into your Banktivity document. So with Banktivity 9.5, when you delete a transaction that was imported via Direct Access, it won’t return the next time you refresh your account. That is, delete really means delete now*.
* We are providing a way to override this functionality in case you deleted something by accident and you want it to come back.
Auto-Categorize Investment Income Transactions
This should be a popular feature for our customers that track investments in Banktivity. Here is the typical workflow now:
- You download/import investment transactions
- Every dividend transaction across every account is uncategorized
- You hunt down every uncategorized transaction and apply your preferred category like, “Investment Income”
Now with Banktivity 9.5 you can set a default investment income category at the account level. This category is automatically set the first time you edit an investment income transaction and apply a category. Then subsequent imports will automatically apply the category. If you don’t want this behavior, you can explicitly set the category to “none” at the account level and subsequent imports will remain uncategorized.
You can set the investment income category on Mac, iPad or iPhone and the setting will sync across platforms.
Apple Card Import
For those that have Apple’s credit card and iPhone, you will now be able to import your Apple Card transactions. This has been made possible by a recent change Apple made to its frameworks. This process will only work on iPhone, because that is the only device (at least at the time of this writing) that supports viewing transactions in Apple Card via the Wallet app. The good news is the way we’ve implemented it will make it fairly easy to enable this to work on other devices if Apple ends up supporting Apple Card transactions via Wallet on other devices.
Plaid Connections for More People
I’m happy to report that Banktivity 9.5 supports Plaid connections for all customers. This means you won’t have to go through any extra hoops to set up connections via Plaid (up until now you had to enable a specific Setting). Of course, we are also continuing to support connecting with Yodlee. Overall, this is a great improvement to our Direct Access technology and ultimately should mean more connections working, more often.
Conclusions
We are happy to get you these features that we know you’ll love. Please note, we haven’t stopped here. We are still hard at work on making sure our app shines into the future and remains a good citizen on Apple’s platforms. We have other good features and improvements coming, but I’ll save a discussion of those for the future.
- Banktivity 9.5 and Monthly Subscriptions - October 18, 2024
- Coming soon: Banktivity 9.5 - July 19, 2024
- Continuing Investments in Direct Access - February 26, 2024
A small point, however a change I would like to see is in “Transaction Type”. I like many others have numerous accounts. I currently have 12 accounts varying from Credit Cards, Brokerage, CMA, Mortgage, Auto Loans, IRA’s, etc. When I go to enter a new transaction into a specific account I invariably have to change the Transaction Type. It would be very helpful if I could select a default Transaction Type for each account at the account level.
I’ve been using Banktivity for 10 years now, and I just have to say how impressed I am with their commitment to excellence. The team is incredibly attentive to bugs and defects, ensuring that any issues are addressed promptly and effectively. What’s even more impressive is their ongoing innovation—Banktivity continues to evolve and improve, always introducing new features that enhance the user experience. Kudos to the entire team for their dedication and hard work!
Thank you to Banktivity team. Seems great fixes/upgrades to an impressive personal finance product. If seek gold star, I’d love to see a) use of historical fx rates in reports (now: current fx applied to all historical balances); b) bug fix for always mis-assigned buy/sell/dividend/prices in feeds for investment securities that have identical ticker on US and Canadian exchange (now: if own ABC.TO Canada ticker but a ABC US ticker exists then all data feeds for ABC.TO assigned to ABC US security, even if none held). Thanks again.
It would be nice to have a Description or Comment text box somewhere (togglable on/off of course) for each account. It would be useful for Account information, URLs, x-callback-urls to UpNotes, or similar. I’ve wanted something like this on a couple of different occassions, so others may find it useful, particularly if you have a lot of accounts.
Double-click the account in the sidebar and there is a “Note” section. Does that suffice?
I second Jerry, where we need the ability to have more default options for Transaction Type per account. @Jerry – I recall this having been submitted back in the days when there was a user support forum where people could read suggestions – so IGG hasn’t known about it and hope they will prioritize.
I second Merrill & Ross’s comment as well…dedicated hard working team who really cares about the product.
Personal notes:
THANK YOU for bringing back single register. I haven’t get tried it out yet thrilled it made its way back. That was some of Banktivity (iBank’s) magic look forward to seeing it someday.
SERVER FILE
One of the largest friction points is the fact that the data file is only supported on a single device and one that is not shared. All our data is centrally stored on a server (Synology in our case.) PLEASE support WebDav or other (non-subscription) central file servers (WebDav, Dropbox etc.). In 2024, it is a right PIA to have to get to a dedicated device to do bookkeeping when I should be able to fire up Banktivity from any device and be good-to-go.
(note – this is NOT a plug for cloud SAAS offering – still need it local, just support servers.)
Banktivity is the only software we use that still forces local device storage and can’t be shared with other devices.
IPHONE
Our Banktivity data file is on the large side (totally ok) – AND – we have no need to carry brokerage transactions for example on the iPhone. We need a companion app that allows us to make entries through the day that syncs up to Banktivity – but does NOT FORCE a full two-way sync filling up the iPhone w/Brokerage and other conentent not relevant or wanted from the mobile phone experience.
HISTORICAL CLEAN UP
Remain stuck with antiquated categories that keep filling up and cluttering Banktivity. You can’t delete them because deleting would then ALSO remove the category from old transactions, resulting in needn’t to keep them around and adjusting the names to indicated archived category. Please break the dependency and allow us to delete unused categories w/o losing historical connection to those old categories.
KEYBOARD NAVIGATION
Still awkward to use just keyboard to navigate, particularly when entering a new transaction where you have to tab through unused fields and an’t easy adjust the date.
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After this post think there is a good chance someone will lock down comments on future posts.
I’ve also been asking several times for the ‘historical clean up’ function like we have with old accounts that we can make ‘invisable’. All these old categories that were usefull 10 years ago but no longer apply but still see every day in the program are annoying.
We added historical clean up in v9. Go to File > Remove Historical Data
Great to see new features coming, thank you. Feature I would love to see with regard to investment tracking is asset allocation. Something that could be set in security setup dialog and added to Investment Summary report (like less useful IMO risk is now). Fingers crossed 🙂
Long time loyal customer since iBank4. For investment tracking, we need % of portfolio to see how much of a security we own relative to the overall portfolio. Also, to be able to report on security sector. For example, how much exposure does the portfolio have to various sectors such as financial, energy, utilities, energy, consumer etc. I have to keep a separate Numbers spreadsheet with all securities so I can manage risk, whether individual security or sector weighting. I would really like to get rid of my spreadsheet, and these would add to the already great features I use every day.
I would love that!
I agree, please add support for saving the Banktivity file on networked file storage or implement a server-client architecture so we can save a file centrally on our own storage and access it simultaneously from multiple devices! I’ve been using Banktivity since iBank 4 and this is the only thing it’s missing.
Lack of network file storage has been the highest friction point for me where all applications are working from shared server files…nothing kept local on a device these days….and it has been this way for years. Here is a spot, though, where a product owner may have pause, assuming such support would detract from the subscription offering.
Plug to bring back the community threads forum to discuss feature wish lists etc.
To do this well, we’d have to completely re-design our system and move to a different toolset. Please don’t hold your breath for this – it is not on our roadmap.
This is an incredible PITA for me as well. I own and bounce between multiple Mac computers and am totally bought into the Apple ecosystem. Subsequently I use the iCloud shared Desktop/Documents feature and have for years stored my financial software file in the Documents folder of iCloud. With the move to Banktivity 9, all of a sudden it is no longer supported.
I started with Banktivity back in the iBank days because it was the best option for Mac users. Not supporting one of the core features of Apple and iCloud is a huge step backwards. Now, I have to keep my Banktivity data files in my Downloads folder because that is the only data folder that isn’t shared on iCloud. Not sure how much longer I want to put up with this.
I don’t think Justin is asking for iCloud Drive support, he wants to store it on his own custom network storage. You can put your Banktivity file on iCloud Drive if you want. However, please use our cloud sync to sync the data across devices. If you don’t, you risk over-writing your data if you leave Banktivity open on multiple computers/devices at the same time.
Ian – as much I appreciate that a subset of Banktivity users employ the online banking and investment management features I, for one, do not. I simply don’t have enough bank or credit card transactions to warrant navigating the access to UK banks. My investments are managed in wrappers by an IFA – I simply monitor the broad changes not individual asset performance. Nor do I have Apple Card which is not available in the UK or Europe.
It might be interesting to understand what percentage of users share my pattern of use of Banktivity?
So in summary, I’m hoping 9.5 brings some improvements to Banktivity’s core functionality e.g., reporting, performance etc?
There are two changes I’d love to see with Banktivity. The first is to the goals feature. It’d be really helpful if there were a way to use some of the money set aside for a goal (toward that goal) without having to create a new goal to adjust the amount of money needed and the amount of money saved. I’m not going to have enough room to better explain, suffice to say that I’d like a link between goals and spending categories so that if I spend my tuition money for the year, the program doesn’t suggest that I replace that money immediately. The goal will continue revolving since tuition is due every year. Second (again with goals), I’d like to be able to designate money in multiple accounts as going toward a specific goal. I create savings and CD accounts based on best interest rates, so savings for a goal could be split over multiple accounts.
First I want to say I appreciate that you guys are always working to improve the product. What you’re doing to allow a default investment income category is better than it is now, but still not ideal. It’s a fallacy to think that a user would want all investment income to be categorized in one place. Investments can have interest, dividend and capital gain income (LT & ST). I’d like to see it work like non-investment imports where if I modify the imported transaction there’s a checkbox for me to tell Banktivity to “create import rule” so that the next time I import a like transaction is enters it the way I want. That way I could not only get it categorized right I could change the description and note fields to be my preferred text.
Banktivity is fabulous! I’ve been using it for many years (10+ ?) and it provides everything I need to management my finances. Being a retired accountant I love having all my historical transactions available (I have over 12,000 transaction across all accounts) and it’s great to have all this data available for analytical purposes!
Keep up the good works!
Is there a spot for feature request? Would like to see in the listing for accounts the graphic of the finance institution? (Currently doing this with tags)
Also, how about faster editing of tags? Right now a user needs to open the transaction, click edit and then click on the tag
Try emoji in the name of the account eg ✈️ Amex
What an awesome tip !
I am new to Banktivity, but must say I am so impressed with the software. It is simple, clean, flexible, many great features. But for me it is missing a key feature on credit cards which make me search for other alternatives. I’d like to see the expenses on credit card based o. The date I actually pay off the bill, and not based on the date purchase has happened, sort of cash regime. I couldn’t find any way of achieving this. Is there any way to request the functionality?
For about two weeks now I’ve noticed Canadian security prices updating throughout the trading day rather than only at the end. This is an amazing improvement, thank you. I’m looking forward to 9.5
Interesting , same happened to Australian stocks BUT…it only updates once and through the day it gives you the prices from the first refresh; later that night it will update with End Of Day. I hope they bring AU to the same update level as Canada. I am more than happy with a 20 mins delay or whatever is the age of the downloaded data.
Thanks for the continuing improvement oaths amazing software.
As a long term user this product does what I need.
One improvement that was taken on board by a member of IGG staff and submitted to the development team has not been implemented. I am sure others would value it.
When a dividend is reinvested in new shares one clicks the reinvest option. The option currently assumes ALL dividend is reinvested however often there is a few pence (I am in the UK) left over. There is currently no option to split the reinvest option between the amount of new shares bought and add the remaining small amount cash left over to CASH BALANCE.
If this was implemented I could literally merge around 500 ” divi” transactions .
I would like the ability to batch change the date of transactions. At the moment, if I turn on the “import pending transactions” feature, those transactions are imported with day’s date. However, most of them don’t actually appear in my bank for a number of days, in which case I have to manually edit every date so that I can match it to my statement.
What is the recommended memory configuration for using newest version on iMac M3 ? Is 24 GB preferred over 16 GB ? My Banktivity file covers many years and many investment accounts.
When will this be released, and is there a Beta version that can be tried?
It is available now.
Thanks so much for your hard work and dedication to the software development of Banktivity.
Did Plaid support for all users not make it into 9.5.1? As a Canadian user, tried to connect 2 credit cards and my primary Canadian bank and only received connection options through Yodlee. Was really hoping to give Plaid a try, since really poor user experience with Yodlee.
I would like to see the New Zealand stock market support again like it was in the original version for live prices and historical data. Is that likely anytime soon? Otherwise great product.
Love having the ability to categorize investments by account. It would also be nice to categorize down to the security level. I categorize by security which allows me to create an interval report (which I love and use extensively ) of dividends like so:
Q1. Q2. Q3. Q4. Total
Fund A 200 300 400 500 1400
Fund B 100. 200. 150 300 450
Fund C …
…
I don’t know of another way to do it. Anyway, maybe for the next version you could consider that request.
I may be wrong but it looks like the categorisation of investment income is only applicable to downloaded transactions, I for one post these manually and the entry in the Inspector is not applied. I think this should be resolved and apply to any income entry regardless of source.
A small request , the ability to isolate (or sort) by transaction attachments. Preferably within the register (ie not a report).
All my checking transactions turned red.
I can’t figure out how to make everything black,again. I didn’t ask for this and it disrupts how I read my registers.
Ian – I have been a Banktivity user since the early versions of iBank, and I love the product. With changes you’ve made over the years, I can manage my personal finances almost entirely from my IPad. The only piece missing is support for my Investment Report, including access to individual security prices. For this I have to go to my Mac. Are there any plans to address this in iOS? Thanks.
Hi, thanks for the comment. I think the short answer is “yes” in that one of our driving factors behind the scenes is to build more toward feature parity between our apps. That being said, I’d really like to know the details of you’d like to see on iPad. I know you’d like to see management of the individual security prices, but which specific investment report would you like to see?
Hi, I’m not sure if this is a part of 9.5 update, but it did just recently show up when I opened Banktivity. I handle both my and my Mother’s finances through Banktivity and I love that there are now tabs for when there are multiple files open. A small but GREAT addition. Thanks to the team for adding this feature.
I’m an early adopter to Banktivity, because of its longtime support of the Mac OS platform and its great feature set.