Schwab Questions/Comments: New Investor Site

[WhiteFox]

Hello! Once again, Schwab has changed its investor interface. The transactions download area specifies that IE is required to do the download (?), asks what operating system you have, then gives you 2 choices...either Quicken or Microsoft Money. No mention of file format. Now that Money is discontinued, perhaps QIF format should be considered, but I don't know the detailed arguments for and against.

In any case, to allow an import of all transactions (in order to set up a new portfolio), things appear to be unnecessarily confusing. In fact, it seems that access to the transaction download area is obtained by using the same username and password as for the main account. That plan seems to lack the security we have all been lectured about for the past 10 years. I'm in the process of contacting Schwab for some feedback on these 2 issues and will report back.

WhiteFox

[Mark]

Hi WhiteFox,

Instead of downloading a file from their website, and then importing it, you can just 'retrieve' your transactions. See:

http://www.fundmanagersoftware.com/tintrtv.html

It is much faster, and you don't have to visit their website at all.

[WhiteFox]

Hi Mark,
I know that FM can directly download transactions, but the new Schwab site seems to have a few kinks to be worked out. If I understand correctly, FM uses .OFX file format to retrieve the information, however at this moment Schwab does not specify what file formats are available. They simply name 2 applications, rather than specifying the file type that is to be used. Additionally, they do not require a unique username and password to access this information - something I am not too happy about. I have sent them an email requesting further information and suggestions.

-WhiteFox

[Mark]

Hi WhiteFox,

From FM's perspective, it doesn't need/care anything about their web site. Instead, FM retrieves from their "Open Financial Exchange" server. This is completely separate from their web site. You don't need to go to their web site at all in order to get transactions into Fund Manager. All Open Financial Exchange servers use the same protocol/format, so the nice thing is the end user doesn't have to know or care about any of this. Just set the "Transaction Retrieve Settings..." for your account in Fund Manager, and then choose "Edit / Internet Retrieve / Transactions...". All of this is done from within Fund Manager. You do not need to visit their website, or do any downloading of files on your own.

[WhiteFox]

Mark,
Thanks for the clarification, and sorry I am so slow to understand what is happening.

-WhiteFox