The Infinite Kind Blog

I’ve just released the second update to Moneydance 2007. This update addresses the following issues:

• Moneydance now detects when OFX servers ignore payment requests
• No more invalid prices being entered into your security price history when recording non-reinvested dividend transactions
• Changed toolbar buttons to appear correctly on Mac OS X 10.5

You can get it by running Moneydance and clicking the “check for updates/extensions” link on the home page. I’ll have the download page updated soon with installers for all major platforms.

Much less has changed in this release compared to the 2007r2 update back in August. We’re working away on a lot of great improvements for Moneydance 2008!

As Forbes.com originally reported earlier this year, LaSalle (another bank that offered free OFX based Bill Pay) has been sold to Bank of America. ABN AMRO has been entertaining bids from Barclays for a potential merger for the majority of the year. A consortium of banks including the Royal Bank of Scotland, Fortis, and Banco Santander has set up a rival bid.

Regardless of which offer is accepted later this week, according to the International Herald Tribune, the sale of LaSalle to Bank of America has been confirmed.

"'LaSalle customers and commercial clients can now enjoy the benefits of the largest retail bank in the nation,' Kenneth Lewis, chief executive of Bank of America, said. LaSalle branches will begin to change to the Bank of America brand during the first quarter of next year."

Of course, this has implications other than the possible dissolution of ABN AMRO. It has been suggested that with the acquisition of LaSalle, and the also recent acquisition of US Trust, Bank of America may now standing dangerously close to the 10 percent threshold. And that could mean more hassle for Bank of America users, both old and new.

Shawn Parr has some more information on the status of NetBank accounts that were taken over by ING Direct after NetBank’s shutdown. Apparently a customer service rep for ING indicated that online bill payment via OFX will stop working at some point.

As of yesterday (7 October) I was able to submit bill payments using Moneydance through my formerly-NetBank account, so this policy apparently hasn’t yet taken effect.

Not coincidentally, I first started paying attention to my investments around the time Moneydance gained support for tracking them. Keeping all of my investment records in Moneydance forced me to pay attention to the transactions, fees and securities. Alan Haft has posted a nicely written set of guidelines for investing that I think are very helpful.

My favorite, predictably, is this one:

5. Watch your money No one else will ever keep track of your money like you will. Don’t get lazy and stop paying attention. Read your statements every month and monitor your progress and returns. This is your hard earned money we’re talking about, and don’t ever forget that.

via boboroshi, who also happens to have designed moneydance.com and is an incredibly enthusiastic Moneydance user.

From the Personal Finance Blog comes a story of how NetBank is suddenly no more. NetBank is the bank where Reilly Technologies’ (the maker of Moneydance, in case you haven’t noticed) accounts were kept and this is the first I’ve heard of their closing.

All accounts at NetBank were apparently transferred to the FDIC and quickly sold to ING Direct, which is a relief but I’ll be happier when I can regain access to our accounts and make sure that any pending payments and deposits will be processed. I have recommended NetBank to a few friends and acquaintances over the years because of their excellent support of OFX and free online banking and bill payment (both via the web and directly from Moneydance).

So now we find ourselves ING Direct customers. Can any other ING Direct customers vouch for their support of OFX connections? How about international money transfers (I’m currently living in the UK)? Anyone have any horror stories of their bank suddenly disappearing?

I’ve been researching UK bank regulations, law, and practices for a couple weeks now in an effort to better understand the UK Banking community. Since we have quite a few users who are located in the UK (including our wonderful developer, Sean), I thought I might point out a neat little blog I’ve found that covers the (very) confusing world of Bank Law in the United Kingdom: Bank Law Blog.

It’s probably not the best place to start if you’re completely unfamiliar with the subject, as some of the shorter entries take the reader’s expertise for granted. Take, for example, March 6th’s entry:

Business rates are an administration expense

"The House of Lords has decided that business rates must be paid before administrators take their remuneration.  The effect of the ruling in re Trident Fashions, Exeter City Council clarifies a position that has been uncertain since early 2006."

I spent a few minutes on Google after reading that one. But generally a cursory knowledge of finance and law will let you access the insight and commentary that “1BankBlogger” provides on a regular basis.