Nationwide to remove support for Microsoft money

rpb424

There is no likelihood of Nationwide adding the complete service back. The best you can hope for is the addition of OFX support as a better alternative to CSV.

The situation as I understand it is as follows, having reconsidered by initial 'knee-jerk' reaction and irritation. In order for Money to be able to directly contact a bank (not just Nationwide, but any bank), it needs to contact a dedicated server provided by said bank. Note that this server is NOT the normal one used for online banking via a web browser, but a separate one with access to the same data. Nationwide were the only UK bank to EVER offer this service, for which they are to be applauded, such an arrangement was much more common in the US.

This dedicated server runs software that is at least in part, if not wholly, supplied, licenced and supported by Microsoft. Once Microsoft pulled the plug on both Money development and future support it was only a matter of time before any existing support and licencing arrangements in place with Nationwide were due to run out and be up for renewal. Even if Nationwide HAD wanted to carry on with the service they would have been unable to do since Microsoft would no longer licence it or support it.

Some people have said 'Well why don't Nationwide carry on anyway and just let the online community provide their own support'. It is not as simple as that because without a valid licence from Microsoft they would effectively be running the server illegally. Even if it WASN'T solely a licencing issue and purely a support one then the first time that the server had a problem in the future there would be no guarantee it could be fixed since Microsoft would refuse to help and it would be 'game over' at that point anyway.

Hence the fault really lies with Microsoft and not Nationwide, whose hands were effectively tied. Having said that there is little reason not to at least provide downloadable OFX support since many other banks do this.

I can't help but to draw a parallel here to the withdrawal of Concorde six years ago. British Airways were fairly keen to keep it running but unfortunately the 'Type Certificate' for the aircraft and the ongoing support arrangements were with Airbus (the eventual successor to the original consortium of Anglo-French builders). Airbus decided not to support Concorde any more which left both BA and Air France (the only other airline flying it, who weren't so committed any more anyway) high and dry with no alternative but to withdraw it. Airbus were also unwilling to release the certificate, which meant that no-one else could take over support. Another great technological leap backwards, though undoubtedly in a different league.

techno79

rpb424 wrote: »

There is no likelihood of Nationwide adding the complete service back. The best you can hope for is the addition of OFX support as a better alternative to CSV.

The situation as I understand it is as follows, having reconsidered by initial 'knee-jerk' reaction and irritation. In order for Money to be able to directly contact a bank (not just Nationwide, but any bank), it needs to contact a dedicated server provided by said bank. Note that this server is NOT the normal one used for online banking via a web browser, but a separate one with access to the same data. Nationwide were the only UK bank to EVER offer this service, for which they are to be applauded, such an arrangement was much more common in the US.

This dedicated server runs software that is at least in part supplied, licenced and supported by Microsoft. Once Microsoft pulled the plug on both Money development and future support it was only a matter of time before any support and licencing arrangements in place with Nationwide were due to run out and be up for renewal. Even if Nationwide HAD wanted to carry on with the service they would have been unable to do since Microsoft would no longer licence it or support it.

Some people have said 'Well why don't Nationwide carry on anyway and just let the online community provide their own support'. It is not as simple as that because without a valid licence from Microsoft they would effectively be running the server illegally. Even if it WASN'T solely a licencing issue and purely a support one then the first time that the server had a problem in the future there would be no guarantee it could be fixed since Microsoft would refuse to help and it would be 'game over' at that point anyway.

Hence the fault really lays with Microsoft and not Nationwide, whose hands were effectively tied. Having said that there is little reason not to at least provide downloadable OFX support since many other banks do this.

Fair enough, I suppose that makes sense. Even if Nationwide add OFX download then that would be enough to make me happy again. It's extremely weird how Money, Quicken and all the other home financial budgeting software for UK has died away.

Any recommendations for decent replacement software for Money 2005?

rpb424

techno79 wrote: »

Any recommendations for decent replacement software for Money 2005?

Depends what your priorities are. I'm not sure you'll find anything better in terms of download support, given that no other software supports direct import anyway.

Someone further up this thread mentioned AceMoney which they had tried. I downloaded it out of curiosity even though I intended to stick with Money. To be honest, whilst it probably does its job perfectly well, the look, feel and general polish were inferior to my mind to my ancient copy of Money 2001, let alone later versions!

keithk

Going back to an earlier question, does anyone have experience of downloading transactions for Halifax, Abbey or Lloyds TSB current accounts into MS Money? If so, can you advise whether it's possible to limit transactions by date range or "all since last download"?

nlamont

I've spent a little time on AceMoney and as rpb424 says its interface, while essentially the same functionality for bank accounts, lacks the visual appeal of Money. And it doesn't seem to let you differentiate between different shares ISAs and other 'wrappers' - all your shares are in one place called 'Portfolio'. If you're not bothered about shares, then it's probably fine and the people who make it are responsive on their Yahoo group.
Personally, after spending hours, I've managed to get Money just about recovered from trying to connect to Nationwide. Full reinstalls, exports and re-imports haven't cured the problems on the two accounts that were trying to connect, but I've just closed them and started two new accounts from the end of Oct. I decided the benefits of staying with Money were worth it.

silverG

rpb424 wrote: »

If you want to prevent Money from asking which account to import data into then you can download a modified csv script that I have created.

This supports Flexaccount, e-Savings, ISA and InvestDirect accounts. To make it work you need to do the following....

1. Download it to the c:\Program Files\MT2OFX folder.
2. Open it in WordPad (or any other good text editor). You will find 4 lines about half way down the file called 'SAcct = "xxxxxxxx", relating to the account number of the account named in the line above. Replace xxxxxxxx with the right account numbers and save the file. If you don't use some of these accounts then ignore the relevant line.
3. Make sure that your Money accounts are also set up to have the account number stored.
4. Go to the MT2OFX Scripts options, press 'New' and select this new script file. Press 'Update' and make sure it is at the top of the list and is ticked. Untick the old 'Nationwide-CSV.vbs' file.

Now when you import into Money it should match up the account number stored in the OFX file to what it knows as the account numbers and automatically import the data without prompting for an account.

Let me know if these instructions work!!

Have tried to use this script after entering my account numbers where necessary. Clicked the text file download under the Full tab and have set Firefox to open the file with MT2OFX. However, I get an Error 500 (0x1F4): Variable is undefined: "MapAccount At line 501 col 1 In module Nationwide-CSV_multi_account Last function was LoadTextFile

So near and yet so far.... any idea what is causing this error as others are reporting it is working fine. I have looked at the script and downloaded the bank statement and can't find any logic for it. Thanks for all the work you have put into making Money useable again.

nlamont

I don't know if it'll help but I had more success importing into Money from a QIF created by MT2OFX than OFX.

silverG

Having tried both the OFX and QIF I can import either using MT2OFX original scripts, but rpb424's script is causing the Error 500.

rpb424

Hmm, that's an odd error. I'm at work at the moment and just tried a complete download of MT2OFX and my script onto a PC that had never seen them before and it worked perfectly.

The only thing I can think to check at the moment is your VBScript version, which apparently needs to be 5.6 or above according to the author's readme.

To do this go to c:\windows\system32, right click on vbscript.dll, select Properties and then the version tab. My version reads as 5.6.0.8820.

nlamont

I should point out that my MT2ofx is working with QIF without the amended script - just as it comes. Importing into Nationwide with no problem. OFX doesn't.